Kabul mosque bombing kills 21, injures 33 others

KABUL－A bombing targeted worshippers at a mosque in Kabul late on Wednesday, killing at least 21 people and injuring 33 others, police in the Afghan capital said on Thursday.

"The blast happened during the evening prayer inside a mosque in Police District 17," Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said in a briefing.

Eyewitnesses heard a powerful explosion that shattered windowpanes in nearby buildings.

No one has so far claimed responsibility for the deadly incident.

"He was my cousin," said a neighborhood resident who gave his name as Masiullah, describing how he learned of a relative's death in the blast.

"One year had passed from his marriage. He was 27 years old and his name was Fardin … he was a good person."

Emergency Hospital, a facility run by an Italian NGO that specializes in treating victims of war, said in a statement it had admitted 27 people, including five children, who had been wounded in the blast.

Two people had arrived dead and another died in the emergency room, said Stefano Sozza, Afghanistan country director for the medical aid group.

Most of the patients were suffering "shell and burn injuries", the group said via email.

In a later tweet, the hospital said five children were among those it treated, including a 7-year-old.

This month the hospital has treated 80 people hurt in six mass-casualty events, which include major incidents such as blasts and mass shootings.

"The country is suffering the consequences of a very long conflict that has undermined its future," Sozza said.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the attack and vowed that the "perpetrators of such crimes will soon be brought to justice and will be punished".

The blast came days after a prominent pro-Taliban cleric was killed in a suicide bomb blast in Kabul. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for that attack.

The Taliban on Monday marked a year since the group took over the capital Kabul after the United States' chaotic withdrawal in August last year.

Agencies - Xinhua