Suicide bombing at mosque kills 7 in Afghanistan

KABUL: A suicide bombing ripped through a Shia mosque in northern Afghanistan on Friday, killing at least seven worshippers, a government official said.

“A blast has taken place at a Shia mosque,” the official, Mawlawi Hashimi, told Reuters in Baghlan province where the incident took place.

Seven people were killed during prayer and another 15 suffered injuries in the attack in the city of Pul e Khumri in Baghlan, he said, adding that all the casualties were Shias.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. 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. Sunni consider Shias to be heretics.