Fri 02 September 2022:
A prominent pro-Taliban scholar and more than a dozen civilians were killed in an explosion in a mosque in the western Afghan city of Herat.
On Friday, pictures shared on social media appeared to show blood-stained victims lying around the mosque complex. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
“Eighteen people were martyred in the incident and 23 others were wounded,” Hameedullah Motawakel, spokesman for the governor of Herat province, told reporters.
The blast went off in the Guzargah Mosque during Friday noon prayers.
“[Imam] Mujib Rahman Ansari with some of his guards and civilians have been killed on their way toward the mosque,” said Herat’s police spokesman Mahmoud Rasooli. “One of the suicide bombers blew himself up while kissing his hands.”
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the perpetrators behind the bombing would be punished.
“The country’s strong and courageous religious scholar was martyred in a brutal attack,” Mujahid said on Twitter.
Mujib Rahman Ansari had spoken strongly in defence of the Taliban at a large gathering of thousands of scholars and elders organised by the group in late June, condemning anyone who stood against its administration.
BREAKING 🇦🇫 : Footage, aftermath of the deadly explosions inside the Guzargah mosque in Herat.
♦️Dozens of people killed and injured including the Imam Mawlawi Mujeeb Rahman Ansari #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/MBM6Ykx6qO— Zaid Ahmd (@realzaidzayn) September 2, 2022
Ansari is the second pro-Taliban scholar killed in an explosion in less than a month, after Rahimullah Haqqani died in a suicide attack at his madrassa in Kabul. Haqqani was known for angry speeches against the armed group ISIL (ISIS), which later claimed responsibility for his death.
The Herat mosque draws followers of Sunni Islam, the dominant stream in Afghanistan that is also followed by the Taliban.
ISIL has launched several suicide attacks during Friday prayers with a focus on targeting Shia Muslims.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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