A blast that tore through a Kabul mosque during evening prayers has killed 21 people, Kabul police have said.
Khalid Zadran, a police spokesperson, said another 33 people had been injured in the explosion.
Witnesses said the powerful blast was heard in a northern Kabul neighbourhood on Wednesday, shattering windows in nearby buildings. No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion and authorities have not publicly assigned blame.
The Taliban say they are restoring security to the war-torn country that has experienced an overall drop in violence since the group took over and defeated a US-backed government a year ago. However, several large attacks, some claimed by Islamic State, have taken place in urban centres in recent months.
Emergency Hospital, a facility run by an Italian NGO that specialises in treating victims of war, said in a statement it had admitted 27 people, including five children, who were wounded in the explosions. Two people had arrived dead at the hospital and one patient died in the emergency room, said Emergency Hospital’s Afghanistan country director, Stefano Sozza.
In August the hospital treated 80 patients from six different mass casualty events, which included major incidents such as blasts and mass shootings. Sozza said: “The country is suffering the consequences of a very long conflict that has undermined its future.”
