Casualties feared in blast at mosque in northern Afghanistan

KABUL: A blast ripped through a Shia mosque in northern Afghanistan on Friday, injuring several people, a government official said.

“A blast has taken place at a Shia mosque. The authorities are taking the injured and dead to hospital,” the official, Mawlawi Hashimi, told Reuters in Baghlan province where the incident took place.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Hashimi said authorities were probing what type of blast it was.

Afghanistan’s Taliban-run administration has faced an insurgency by Islamic State militants, who have claimed a series of deadly attacks on civilians, foreigners and Taliban security forces in recent months.