Bomb in Afghan Mosque Kills Senior Cleric

Date: 24 May 2019 - 21:59

News ID: ۶۶۳۱۸

KABUL (Dispatches) – A bomb exploded in a mosque in the Afghan capital, Kabul, during Friday prayers, officials said, killing three people including a senior preacher and wounding at least 20 men who had gathered for worship.
The preacher, Samiullah Raihan, was a supporter of the Afghan government which Taliban militants are trying to bring down. He was also a member of the National Ulema Council, Afghanistan’s top Muslim clerical body.
Firdaws Faramarz, a police spokesman, said explosives were apparently placed near the altar of the Al-Taqwa mosque, a place used by the mosque leader to initiate the prayers.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but the Taliban and Deash terrorists regularly stage attacks in the capital.
The explosion hit at a time when dozens of men had gathered for prayers. The death toll could rise, said a second official.
The Taliban’s five-year rule over at least three quarters of Afghanistan came to an end in the wake of a U.S.-led invasion in 2001, but the militant group still continues to attack government and civilian targets as well as foreign forces.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is now negotiating with the Taliban group.
In an earlier development, two airstrikes carried out by U.S. forces in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand and eastern Kunar provinces killed at least 14 civilians, mostly children and women.
Five women and seven children were among those killed in the attacks that took place in Helmand's Gereshk and Kunar's Chawki districts on Monday and Wednesday, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said Thursday.
"Civilian casualty toll from airstrikes in #Afghanistan continues to rise," UNAMA said on Twitter. "Parties must respect international obligations to protect civilians from harm."
The attacks came days after at least eight Afghan policemen were killed in a US airstrike on Helmand province On May 16.
A spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Colonel Dave Butler, said the aerial attack took place after Afghan forces requested U.S. air support during a firefight with Taliban militants near the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah.