30 killed in suicide bomb blast inside Kabul's Imam Zaman mosque

Kabul: A suicide bomber killed at least 30 people inside a Shi‘ite mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul on Friday night, a security official said, the latest in a string of violent attacks on the country’s Shi‘ite minority.

The attack occurred at Imam Zaman mosque in the western Dasht-e-Barchi part of Kabul, as Shi‘ite worshippers gathered for prayers.

A senior security official said the exact number of casualties was unknown but that security forces at the scene had removed at least 30 bodies.

Afghanistan’s Shi‘ite population has been heavily hit this year, with at least 84 people killed and 194 wounded in attacks on their mosques and religious ceremonies, according to a United Nations report released last week.

Among those were at least two attacks on mosques in Kabul in August and September.