UPDATE - 7 killed, 41 injured in car bombing near Kabul mosque

UPDATES WITH CASUALTY FIGURE AND POLICE STATEMENT; CORRECTS DATELINE, CHANGES IN HEADLINE, DECK, EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) – At least seven people were killed and 41 others injured, including children, as a car bomb exploded outside a mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul when worshippers were coming out after Friday prayers.

The vehicle with explosives was parked by the roadside near the Wazir Akbar Khan Mosque, Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said in a statement.

Authorities have opened an investigation, and are working to hold the culprits accountable, he added.

Soon after the explosion, Taliban security personnel arrived on the scene and blocked vehicles from passing through.

So far, no organization has claimed responsibility for the bombing, the latest since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan last August.

On Sept. 2, Mulawai Mujeebur Rehman Ansari, a well-known pro-Taliban Islamic cleric, was among the 18 people killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up during Friday prayers in western Herat city. The Daesh/ISIS terror group had claimed responsibility for the attack.