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An explosion took place in a mosque located in the Spinghar area of Nangarhar in eastern Afghanistan during Friday prayers on November 12. Three people were reported to have been killed in the incident, while at least 15 were reported injured.
Reuters reported that the explosion occurred near the pulpit of the mosque’s prayer leader just as he rose to deliver his sermon around 1:30 P.M local time. The mosque’s Imam was reportedly killed in the blast. However, unlike the two previous blasts in Kunduz and Kandahar where the worshipers were Shia, this time the blast took place in a Sunni mosque.
While no group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far, Taliban spokesperson, Zahibullah Mujahid tweeted, “Three perpetrators of an explosion in a mosque in the Trail area of Spin Ghar district of Nangarhar province were arrested by the security forces today. Those criminals will be dealt with according to Islamic law and will be punished for their evil deeds.”
The blast in the Nangarhar mosque is the third such incident. SabrangIndia had previously reported on two other instances where blasts took place during Friday prayers in October this year.
On October 8, at least 100 people were killed when a bomb went off in a mosque in Kunduz. Worshippers here hailed from the persecuted Hazara community and belonged to the Shia sect.
Then on October 15, another bomb blast ripped through a mosque in Kandahar, killing 32 and injuring 53 people. Here too, worshippers belonged to the Shia community.
Also, in early November, 19 people were reported killed and 50 injured in an attack on a military hospital in Kabul.
Related:
Afghanistan: 32 killed, 53 injured in bomb blast at Shiite mosque in Kandahar
Afghanistan: Bomb attack kills at least 100 at Shia mosque in Kunduz