File image.
On April 22, dozens of worshipers were killed or wounded when a large blast rocked the Sunni Mawlawi Sekandar mosque in Imam Sahib district of the northern Afghan city of Kunduz.
Imam Sahib security chief, Hafiz Omar, said the blast was caused by explosives planted inside the mosque which is also used as a religious seminary.
According to Afghan officials, the blast at Mawlawi Sekandar mosque claimed the lives of 36 people and wounded more than 40 others.
No group has claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing, yet. However, ISIS branch in Afghanistan, the Islamic State – Khorasan Province (IS-KP), remains the main suspect.
A day earlier, a similar blast tore through the Shiite Si-Dukan mosque in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif, killing at least 31 people and wounding 87. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. The terrorist group said that its members smuggled a suitcase bomb into the mosque, where some 400 people were praying.
IS-KP stepped up its operations in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover in August of last year. The terrorist group carried out dozens of attacks against the Shiite Hazara miniority, as well as against the Sunni members and supporters of the Taliban.
Despite the Taliban’s efforts, IS-KP continues to expand its operations all over Afghanistan. The terrorist group is now the most serious challenge facing the Taliban’s new regime.
