ISLAMABAD: The IS terrorist group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a mosque in the city of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan on Friday that left at least 47 people dead.
A statement posted by the group's Amaq news agency said that two IS suicide bombers killed the mosque security guards before detonating their explosive vests in the middle of a crowd of over 300 people attending Friday prayers.
The state-run Bakhtar news agency initially reported a death toll of 32, but a local Taliban official said on Saturday that the death toll had risen to 47 and that there had been at least 70 people injured in the blast.
The attack on the Imam Bargah mosque is the second deadly explosion at a religious site in Afghanistan within a week.
A suicide bombing at a mosque in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz killed more than 40 worshippers a week ago. That attack was also claimed by IS.
On Saturday, large crowds gathered to bury the victims in a mass grave.
The head of Kandahar police said units would be assigned to protect the mosques which have so far been guarded by local volunteer forces with special permission to carry weapons.
"Unfortunately they could not protect this area and in future we will assign special security guards for the protection of mosques and Madrasas," he said in a statement posted on Twitter by a Taliban spokesman.
Attacks on mosques and targets associated with the Hazara ethnic minority were regular occurrences under the former Western-backed government.
There has been deep shock as the attacks have continued since the Taliban seized power in August, tarnishing the movement's claim to have brought peace to Afghanistan after decades of war.
The Taliban and IS are bitter rivals in Afghanistan and have been fighting each other since IS first established itself in Afghanistan in early 2015.
Since the takeover, IS has conducted dozens of operations, from small scale attacks on Taliban targets to large-scale operations such as Friday's suicide bombing, killing scores of civilians. -- dpa/Reuters
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
