At least 47 people were killed and 70 wounded in a suicide bombing at a Shia mosque packed with worshippers attending Friday prayers in southern Afghanistan, a Taliban official said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the carnage at the Fatimiya mosque in Khandahar province, one of the cruelest day after the US troops withdrew from Afghanistan. The attack came a week after a bombing at a Shia mosque in northern Afghanistan that was claimed by the local Islamic State affiliate killed 46 people.
As a result of the sectarian bloodletting, Westerners and Taliban alike are worried that IS – a mutual enemy – is expanding its presence in Afghanistan. Hafiz Sayeed, the Taliban’s top official in Khandahar cultural and information department, said 47 people have been killed and at least 70 injured. According to Murtaza, who, like many Afghans, goes by one name, he was inside the mosque during the attack and heard four explosions: two outside and two inside. He added that the mosque usually has hundreds of people for Friday prayers.
A second witness, also named Murtaza, was in charge of security at the mosque and saw two bombers. One of the bombers detonated explosives outside the gate, and the other was among worshippers inside the mosque. A suspected attacker outside of the mosque was shot by security officers. Bloodstained carpets were strewn with bodies, and survivors looked lost or anguished in video footage. Shia Muslims are considered apostates by the Islamic State group, which is made up of Sunni Muslims like Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban.
Following the withdrawal of US forces in August, IS has carried out a series of deadly suicide bombings throughout the country. The group has also targeted Taliban fighters in smaller attacks. If IS were to carry out the attack, it would be the first major assault by the extremist group in southern Afghanistan since the US left and the Taliban consolidated control. Several recent attacks in the north, east, and the Afghan capital have cast doubt on the Taliban’s ability to counter the threat posed by IS.
The Taliban have pledged to restore peace and security after decades of war and have also given the United States assurances that the country will not be used as a base for launching attacks on other nations. The Taliban have also pledged to protect Afghanistan’s Shia minority, which was persecuted during the Taliban’s last rule, in the 1990s. IS is far more radical than the Taliban, which adheres to a rigid interpretation of Islamic law. ISIS has a stronger presence in Iraq and Syria.
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