{"id":6644,"date":"2021-10-15T12:20:26","date_gmt":"2021-10-15T12:20:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/?p=6644"},"modified":"2021-10-15T12:20:26","modified_gmt":"2021-10-15T12:20:26","slug":"bombing-in-a-kandahar-mosque-kills-32-during-friday-prayers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/2021\/10\/bombing-in-a-kandahar-mosque-kills-32-during-friday-prayers\/","title":{"rendered":"Bombing in a Kandahar mosque kills 32 during Friday prayers"},"content":{"rendered":"

MONITORING (SW) \u2013 At least 32 people have been killed and 45 others wounded after an explosion went off inside a Shia mosque in Afghanistan\u2019s southern city of Kandahar, according to public health officials in the province.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The explosion on Friday afternoon took place in the Bibi Fatima mosque, the largest mosque for Shia worshippers in the city.<\/p>\n

Interior ministry spokesman Sayed Khosti said on Twitter: \u201cWe are saddened to learn that an explosion took place in a mosque of the Shia brotherhood in the first district of Kandahar city in which a number of our compatriots were martyred and wounded.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taliban special forces arrived in the area \u201cto determine the nature of the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n

A witness told the AFP news agency he heard three blasts, one at the main door of the mosque, another at a southern area, and a third where worshippers wash themselves.<\/p>\n

Murtaza, another witness who, like many Afghans, goes by one name, told The Associated Press news agency that four suicide bombers attacked the mosque.<\/p>\n

Two detonated their bombs at a security gate, allowing the other two to run inside and strike the congregation of worshippers.<\/p>\n

Speaking to The Associated Press by phone, he said Friday prayers were typically attended by about 500 people.<\/p>\n

Photographs posted by journalists on social media showed many people apparently dead or seriously wounded on the bloody floor of the mosque.<\/p>\n

Hospital sources told Al Jazeera they were inundated with patients, and that based on the number of increasing intakes, they feared a high casualty toll.<\/p>\n

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.<\/p>\n

Al Jazeera\u2019s Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Kabul, said the attack in Kandahar, the stronghold of the Taliban, seemed to send \u201ca message that nowhere is safe\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe security card, the one the Taliban always played by saying they were the only group that could ensure security to the country, is now very much challenged,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

At least 32 people have been killed and 45 others wounded after an explosion went off inside a Shia mosque in Afghanistan\u2019s southern city of Kandahar, according to\u00a0public health officials in the province.<\/p>\n

The explosion on Friday afternoon took place in the Bibi Fatima mosque, the largest mosque for Shia worshippers in the city.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ENDS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MONITORING (SW) \u2013 At least 32 people have been killed and 45 others wounded after an explosion went off inside a Shia mosque in Afghanistan\u2019s southern city of Kandahar, according to\u00a0public health officials in the province.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,5,4,6,7],"tags":[12,13,235,273],"class_list":["post-6644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-security_","category-politics_","category-news_","category-afghanistan","category-headline","tag-afghanistan","tag-taliban","tag-daesh","tag-kandahar"],"views":575,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}