There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Wednesday’s attack, the latest to hit Afghanistan in the year since the Taliban took power. Several children were reported to be among the injured, amid fears that the death toll could rise further. The Islamic State group’s local affiliate has stepped up attacks targeting the Taliban and civilians since taking over from former insurgents last August as US and NATO troops were in the final stages of their withdrawal from the country. Last week, Islamic State claimed responsibility for the killing of a prominent Taliban cleric at its religious center in Kabul. According to a witness, a resident of the city’s Khair Khana district where the Siddiquiya mosque was targeted, Wednesday’s blast was carried out by a suicide bomber. The slain cleric was Mullah Amir Mohammad Kabuli, the witness said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. He added that more than 30 other people were injured. The Italian emergency hospital in Kabul said at least 27 injured civilians, including five children, were taken there from the blast site. Khalid Zadran, the Taliban-appointed spokesman for Kabul’s police chief, confirmed an explosion inside a mosque in northern Kabul, but did not give the number of casualties or the extent of the dead and wounded. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also condemned the blast and vowed that “perpetrators of such crimes will soon be brought to justice and punished.” A US-led invasion toppled the previous Taliban government, which had harbored al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. Since regaining power, the former insurgents have faced a crippling economic crisis as the international community, which does not recognize the Taliban government, froze funding to the country. Separately, the Taliban confirmed on Wednesday that they had captured and killed Mehdi Mujahid in the western province of Herat as he tried to cross the border into Iran. Mujahid was a former Taliban commander in Balkhab district in the northern province of Sar-e-Pul, and the only member of the Hazara Shia minority community among the Taliban ranks. Mujahid had turned against the Taliban over the past year after opposing decisions made by Taliban leaders in Kabul.
