16 dead as blasts rock Afghan cities

KABUL: At least 16 people were killed by bomb blasts in two Afghan cities on Thursday -- including 12 worshippers at a Shia mosque in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group (IS).

Since Taliban fighters seized control of Afghanistan last year after ousting the US-backed government, the number of bombings has fallen but the jihadist and IS has continued with attacks. Grisly images posted to social media showed victims of Thursday’s attack being carried to hospital from Seh Dokan mosque in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

"Blood and fear are everywhere," Ahmad Zia Zindani, spokesman for the provincial public health department in Balkh, told AFP, adding "people were screaming" while seeking news of their relatives at the hospital.

"Many residents were also coming to donate blood," he said. The blast occurred as worshippers were offering midday prayers during the month of Ramazan.

Twelve people were killed and 58 wounded, including 32 in serious condition, Zindani said. In a statement, IS said "the soldiers of the caliphate managed to get a booby-trapped bag" inside the mosque, detonating it from afar.

In a separate blast on Thursday in the city of Kunduz, at least four people were killed and 18 wounded when a bicycle bomb exploded near a vehicle carrying mechanics working for the Taliban, police spokesman Obaidullah Abedi told AFP.

"There is religious and ethnic hostility towards the Hazaras ," said prominent leader Mohammad Mohaqqiq. "All extremist groups that are in Afghanistan, be it IS or even Taliban, have shown this hostility."

No group has yet to claim the deadly attack on a boys’ school in Kabul on Tuesday, which also wounded more than 25. "Systematic targeted attacks on crowded schools & mosques call for immediate investigation, accountability and end to such human rights violations," tweeted Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan on human rights.

Taliban officials insist their forces have defeated IS, but analysts say the jihadist group is a key security challenge. Since seizing power, the Taliban have regularly raided suspected IS hideouts in eastern Nangarhar province.