Over 29 Killed, 63 Injured After Attack on Mosque in Afghanistan

Hospital authorities said all the victims were worshipping in the mosque when a suicide bomber blew himself up.

A suicide attack on a mosque in the Afghan city of Herat has left at least 29 people dead and 63 others wounded, said an official.

Jailani Farha, a spokesman for the Herat provincial governor said an attacker on Tuesday shot at the worshippers before entering the mosque and detonating explosives, Efe news reported.

Hospital authorities in Herat said all the dead and wounded were worshipping in the mosque when a suicide bomber blew himself up.

Abdulhai Walizada, a local police spokesman, said there appeared to be more than one attacker, with a suicide bomber who detonated explosives and another who threw grenades at worshippers.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attack to hit Afghanistan, which has seen more than 1,700 civilian deaths so far this year.

Afghanistan has traditionally been relatively free of the sectarian violence common in Iraq or Syria but hardline Sunni militants from the local branch of Islamic State have repeatedly attacked the mainly Shi'ite Hazara minority in the past year.

(with inputs from Reuters and IANS)

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