MAZAR-e-SHARIF (SW) – Widespread condemnation has poured in against Thursday’s deadly mosque bombing in Mazar-e-Sharif in Balkh province.
At around 12:40 pm, an explosion took place inside the “Seh Dekan” mosque in the north of Mazar-e-Sharif shrine on Thursday. It is said that this mosque belonged to the Shiite community. Sources have confirmed that more than 30 people have been killed and more than 80 injured in the blast.
Samira Hamidi, Amnesty International’s South Asia campaigner, responded to the attack by saying that killing civilians, especially Hazaras, required reactions, not simple condemnation. “We need urgent action from the international community to seriously investigate the inadequacy of the Islamic Emirate in its inability to protect the people,” she wrote on Twitter.
She has stressed that the killing of Afghan civilians, especially the Hazaras, must stop. She also called such attack a “genocide” of the Hazaras and called for an end to it.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has also condemned the attacks. The recent attacks on civilians show a worrying trend in Afghanistan, the UNAMA wrote on Twitter. UNAMA added that the attacks must end immediately and the perpetrators must be held accountable.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, condemned the attack on the Shiite mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif, saying that the Hazara community had suffered again. He called for an immediate end to targeted and systematic attacks on schools and mosques, as well as for an immediate investigation and accountability of the perpetrators.
The attacks have also been condemned by Pakistan and Iran among other countries.
In addition, a number of political figures inside the country have condemned the attack.
Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the blasts, calling it a terrorist act and a crime against humanity that runs counter to all human and Islamic principles and values.
Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, condemned the attacks saying the perpetrators of these crimes will soon be caught and punished for their heinous acts.
The Islamic State group, or ISIS, has claimed responsibility for the attack on the mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif, claiming it has killed more than 100 people.
On Thursday, Kabul, Nangarhar and Kunduz provinces also witnessed explosions, killing and injuring scores of civilians and security forces.
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