KABUL: An explosion on the doorsteps of a mosque in northern Afghanistan killed one worshipper and wounded seven others on Friday, Taliban officials confirmed.
According to Russian news agency TASS, the blast occurred in the city of Qala-e-Naw, the capital of Badghis province, which borders the Central Asian country of Turkmenistan.
Baz Mohammad Sarwari, the Taliban’s director of Information and Culture for Badghis Province, said it was unclear whether the blast was caused by a suicide bomber or an explosive device, and that a probe had been launched into the incident.
Sarwari said the wounded were transferred to the provincial hospital while Taliban troops secured the area. The explosion went off while dozens of worshippers had gathered inside the mosque for Friday prayers.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion. A local outfit affiliated with the militant Islamic State group has in the past repeatedly claimed responsibility for similar attacks.
Local residents told Radio Azadi that the area around the mosque had been cordoned off and roads leading to the area had been blocked by the Taliban after the blast.
Last month, a bomb blast on a minibus had killed at least seven people in the western Afghan city of Herat. The sticky bomb was attached to the fuel tank of the bus and left nine other people wounded.
