Suicide Bombers Attack Two Afghan Mosques, at Least 72 Dead

Kabul: Suicide bombers attacked two mosques in Afghanistan on Friday, killing at least 72 people including children, officials and witnesses said.

One bomber walked into a Shia Muslim mosque in the capital Kabul as people were praying on Friday night and detonated an explosive, one of the worshippers there, Mahmood Shah Husaini, said.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, but a statement from the group did not provide evidence to support its claim.

Shia Muslims have suffered a series of attacks in Afghanistan in recent months, many of them claimed by the Sunni Muslim militants of Islamic State.

Separately, a suicide bombing killed at least 33 people at a mosque in central Ghor province, a police spokesman said.

The attack appeared to target a local leader from the Jamiat political party, according to a statement from Balkh provincial governor Atta Mohammad Noor, a leading figure in Jamiat.

No one immediately claimed responsibility.

Afghan men inspect inside a Shia Muslim mosque after Friday night attack in Kabul, Afghanistan on October 21, 2017. (Photo: Reuters/Omar Sobhani)