At least three people were killed and 15 wounded Friday by a blast at a mosque in Afghanistan’s restive Nangarhar province, a hospital official told AFP.
The blast happened in Spin Ghar district of the eastern province, a hotbed of Islamic State group activity since the Taliban seized power in the country in August.
“I can confirm a blast during Friday prayers inside a mosque in Spin Ghar district. There are casualties and fatalities,” a Taliban official told AFP.
“So far three killed, 15 wounded,” a doctor at the local hospital told AFP.
The Afghan branch of the Islamic State group, which first emerged in Nangarhar in 2015, has claimed responsibility for a series of bloody attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s return to power.
One of the latest, in early November, saw IS fighters raid the Kabul National Military Hospital, killing at least 19 people and injuring more than 50.
More than 120 people were killed in IS attacks earlier this year on two mosques popular with the ethnic minority Hazara community.
On November 2, at least 25 people were killed and more than 50 wounded when gunmen attacked Afghanistan’s biggest military hospital after two heavy explosionsat the site in central Kabul.
The explosions hit the entrance of the 400-bed Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital and were followed with an assault by a group of Islamic State gunmen, all of whom were killed within 15 minutes, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
Taliban special forces dropped by helicopter had prevented the attackers from entering the hospital itself, with all killed at the entrance or in the courtyard. Earlier another spokesman said one of the attackers was captured.
The blasts add to a growing list of attacks and killings since the Taliban completed their victory over the Western-backed government in August, undermining their claim to have restored security to Afghanistan after decades of war.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the operation was typical of the complex attacks mounted by Islamic State. It follows a string of bombings by the group which has emerged as the biggest threat to Taliban control of Afghanistan.
A Taliban security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least 25 people had been killed and more than 50 wounded in the assault but there was no officially confirmed casualty toll.
Among the dead was Mawlawi Hamdullah Mukhlis, head of the Kabul military corps and one of the first senior Taliban commanders to enter the abandoned presidential palace when the city fell, Taliban officials said.
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