Afghan Ceasefire Calm Shattered as 12 Die in Mosque Blast
KABUL (Dispatches) – At least 12 people were killed in a mosque blast on the outskirts of the Afghan capital on Friday, shattering the relative calm of an Eid al-Fitr holiday ceasefire.
Among those killed was the imam leading Friday prayers at the mosque on the second day of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr. More than a dozen people were injured.
The explosion breaks a rare respite from violence that was being cautiously enjoyed by Afghans as part of a three-day truce which began Thursday between the Taliban and Afghan forces, after weeks of intense fighting.
"The death toll has jumped to 12 killed including the imam of the mosque and 15 others are wounded,” said Ferdaws Framurz, a spokesman for Kabul police, updating an earlier toll.
No group has so far claimed the attack and the Taliban denied responsibility.
The Taliban and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani agreed on the truce to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan after the militant group proposed it on Monday. It was only the fourth pause in fighting in nearly 20 years of conflict in Afghanistan.
However, despite the announcement of the ceasefire, about a dozen civilians were killed and several others wounded in four separate bombings across various parts of Afghanistan on Thursday.
Jamal Naser Barekzai, a spokesman for provincial police, said on Thursday that a roadside bomb struck a car in the Panjwai district of the southern Kandahar province, killing five civilians, including a woman and children.
In another incident, two children were killed and three adults wounded when a roadside bomb exploded beneath a taxi in the Maiwand district of the same troubled province.
Separately, at least two civilians were killed and 10 more wounded after a sticky bomb attached to a car exploded in northern Kunduz province.
Local officials said that at least two civilians were also killed by a roadside bomb in central Ghazni province.
The Taliban militant group recently captured a key district in Afghanistan’s central province of Wardak. The militants seized the Nerkh district, located around 40 km from the Afghan capital Kabul on Tuesday, pushing government forces out.
The declaration of the ceasefire by the Taliban came two days after a massacre in Kabul, in which as many as 85 people, all students, were killed and over 150 more were wounded in a bomb explosion that took place near Sayed-ul-Shuhada High School in the west of the capital.
Among those killed was the imam leading Friday prayers at the mosque on the second day of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr. More than a dozen people were injured.
The explosion breaks a rare respite from violence that was being cautiously enjoyed by Afghans as part of a three-day truce which began Thursday between the Taliban and Afghan forces, after weeks of intense fighting.
"The death toll has jumped to 12 killed including the imam of the mosque and 15 others are wounded,” said Ferdaws Framurz, a spokesman for Kabul police, updating an earlier toll.
No group has so far claimed the attack and the Taliban denied responsibility.
The Taliban and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani agreed on the truce to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan after the militant group proposed it on Monday. It was only the fourth pause in fighting in nearly 20 years of conflict in Afghanistan.
However, despite the announcement of the ceasefire, about a dozen civilians were killed and several others wounded in four separate bombings across various parts of Afghanistan on Thursday.
Jamal Naser Barekzai, a spokesman for provincial police, said on Thursday that a roadside bomb struck a car in the Panjwai district of the southern Kandahar province, killing five civilians, including a woman and children.
In another incident, two children were killed and three adults wounded when a roadside bomb exploded beneath a taxi in the Maiwand district of the same troubled province.
Separately, at least two civilians were killed and 10 more wounded after a sticky bomb attached to a car exploded in northern Kunduz province.
Local officials said that at least two civilians were also killed by a roadside bomb in central Ghazni province.
The Taliban militant group recently captured a key district in Afghanistan’s central province of Wardak. The militants seized the Nerkh district, located around 40 km from the Afghan capital Kabul on Tuesday, pushing government forces out.
The declaration of the ceasefire by the Taliban came two days after a massacre in Kabul, in which as many as 85 people, all students, were killed and over 150 more were wounded in a bomb explosion that took place near Sayed-ul-Shuhada High School in the west of the capital.