An explosion outside a mosque in the center of Kabul killed at least two people on Sunday, a Taliban spokesman said, underscoring the challenge of maintaining security for the country’s new rulers after decades of waging war. The blast struck around 3:30 p.m. outside the Eid Gah mosque in central Kabul during funerary prayers for the mother of a high-ranking Taliban official, said Qari Sayeed Khosti, a spokesman for the minister of interior. “I heard a huge blast,” said Hasibullah, 45, a Kabul resident who was on his way to get groceries near the mosque when it was hit on Sunday. “Everyone was in a panic.” By early evening the pavement outside the mosque had already been cleaned of the victims’ blood. No group claimed responsibility for the explosion, but it follows a trend of similar attacks carried out by the Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan.

Source: New York Times October 03, 2021 15:56 UTC