Another suicide bomber on a Shia mosque in Afghanistan- this time in Taliban’s stronghold Kandahar struck on Friday, killing at least 32 people and injuring scores of others, according to Afghan media reports.

The explosion took place in the Bibi Fatima mosque, the largest mosque for Shia worshippers in the city. An eyewitness told AFP he heard three explosions, one at the main door of the mosque, another at a southern area, and a third where worshippers wash themselves.

Graphic images shared on social media showed several bloodied bodies lying on the floor.

Bloody Fridays among worshipers in Afghanistan!
Explosions Hit a Shia Mosque in Kandahar. pic.twitter.com/3RrHmLTToR

— Latif Balkhi (@sayedbalkhi2) October 15, 2021

This is second attack against Shia in one week. Last Friday, similar attack targeted a Shia mosque in Kunduz. #Afghanistan
Explosion happened in Fatimah Bargah Mosque in #Kandahar. pic.twitter.com/O3MtDxDHca

— Syeda Muqadas Zahra💫 (@SyedMuqdasKazmi) October 15, 2021

Another eyewitness said that the mosque was full of people at the time of the explosions, and at least 15 ambulances went to the scene.

Interior ministry spokesman of the Taliban government, Qari Sayed Khosti said on Twitter, “We are saddened to learn that an explosion took place in a mosque of the Shia brotherhood in the first district of Kandahar city in which a number of our compatriots were martyred and wounded.”

Though, there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Islamic State (ISIS-K), bitter rivals of the Taliban, but last Friday, a suicide attack on a Shia mosque during Friday prayers in the northern city of Kunduz killed at least 50 people. ISIS-K) said it carried out the attack, which was the deadliest since US forces left at the end of August. According to Afghan media, a local branch of the Islamic State (ISIS-K), is behind the attack.

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Kandahar is a spiritual birthplace and traditional stronghold of the Taliban. There have been no reports in past about the presence of the ISIS-K. By attacking the minority community in Taliban’s stronghold, the ISIS-K has openly challenged the new regime that they can attack anywhere in the country at their will.

ISIS-K, a Sunni Muslim group, is the most extreme and violent of all the jihadist militant groups in Afghanistan, and is violently opposed to the governing Taliban.

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