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'Many casualties feared' in Kabul mosque blast

17 August 2022 21:40 (UTC +04:00)

A huge explosion has ripped through a mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul, police say, APA reports citing BBC.

The blast is thought to have occurred during evening prayers, with many casualties feared, though figures are not yet known.

Khalid Zadran, the Taliban's Kabul police spokesman, was quoted by local media as saying there had been an explosion in the city's 17th district.

Reports say the Siddiqi mosque's imam was among the dead.

It is unclear who was behind the attack, which comes the week after a prominent pro-Taliban cleric was killed in a suicide bomb blast, also in Kabul. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the earlier attack.

Security forces have arrived at the scene, in a northern Kabul neighbourhood, the spokesman added, while Kabul's Emergency Hospital tweeted to say it had received 27 people wounded in the blast.