At least 16 people have been murdered in bomb strikes in two Afghan cities, including 12 at a Shia mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh province, which the ISIL (ISIS) group has claimed responsibility for.
The blast on Thursday at the Seh Dokan mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif killed 12 people and injured 58 others, with 32 of them in critical condition.
“There is blood and panic everywhere,” said Ahmad Zia Zindani, a spokesman for the province public health department in Balkh.
“People were shouting” at the hospital, Zindani added, as they waited for news of their families.
He added, “Many residents were also arriving to donate blood.”
At least four people were killed and 18 others were injured in Kunduz after a bomb placed in a bicycle targeted a truck carrying Taliban government mechanics, according to police spokesman Obaidullah Abedi.
According to a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, the roadside blast targeted a van of military mechanics, and school students were among the injured.
He added that another roadside blast in Kabul injured three people, one of whom was a toddler.
Although the number of bombs in Afghanistan has decreased since the Taliban retook power in August, ISIL has claimed responsibility for several incidents, including the bombing of the Seh Dokan mosque on Thursday.
ISIL said in a statement that “the caliphate’s forces managed to bring a booby-trapped bag” inside the mosque and detonated it from afar when it was full with people.
Two explosions outside a school in a Shia neighbourhood of Kabul killed at least six people and injured another 25 on Tuesday.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the incident.
Taliban leaders claim that ISIL has been defeated, but observers say the group remains a major security threat.
The attacks were criticised by UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Afghanistan, Richard Bennett.
“Afghanistan is rocked by additional blasts today… In a tweet, he added, “Systematic targeted attacks on crowded schools and mosques demand quick inquiry, responsibility, and a stop to such human rights abuses.”
