Muslim devotees offer prayers to start the Eid-al-Fitr festival marking the end of the Islamic holy fasting month of Ramadan during a three-day ceasefire agreed by the warring Taliban and Afghan forces, at the Abdul Rahman Mosque in Kabul on May 13, 2021.
(WAKIL KOHSAR / AFP)
KABUL – At least 12 people were killed in an explosion inside a mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul during Friday prayers as worshippers gathered for the second day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, officials said.
Taliban insurgents have called a three-day ceasefire for the holiday, which marks the end of the Ramadan holy fasting month
Ferdous Faramarz, spokesman for the Kabul police, said the mosque's Imam was among the 12 dead and at least 15 other people were wounded.
He did not identify the mosque where the blast took place. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Taliban insurgents have called a three-day ceasefire for the holiday, which marks the end of the Ramadan holy fasting month.
READ MORE: Athens' first mosque in nearly 200 years opens for Friday prayers
The blast came less than a week after an explosion at a school killed 80 people, most of them schoolgirls from the ethnic Hazara Shi'ite Muslim minority.
The Taliban denounced that attack and no one has claimed responsibility for it. US officials believe it may have been the work of a rival militant group such as Islamic State.
ALSO READ: Mosques face up to pandemic as Friday prayers bring virus risk
Violence, including attacks on civilians, have increased in Afghanistan, even as the United States has begun an operation to withdraw all its remaining troops over the next four months.