Four killed in blast near Kabul mosque: hospital

Published
8

A blast outside a mosque attended by Taliban members in the Afghan capital killed four people minutes after Friday prayers had ended, according to a hospital.

The explosion occurred near the entrance of Wazir Akbar Khan mosque, not far from the fortified former Green Zone that housed several embassies before the Taliban seized power in August last year.

The mosque is now often attended by senior Taliban commanders and fighters.

Italian non-governmental organisation Emergency, which operates a hospital in Kabul, said it had received “14 casualties” from the explosion.

“Four of them were already dead on arrival,” it said in a statement.

Unverified images posted on social media showed a mangled car engulfed in fire on a road outside the mosque.

Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran confirmed the blast and “casualties”, but did not provide details.

A bomb ripped through the same mosque in 2020, killing its imam.

While overall violence has significantly dropped across Afghanistan since the war ended with the Taliban returning to power, there have been regular bomb attacks in Kabul and other cities.

Several mosques and clerics have been targeted in these attacks, some claimed by the militant Islamic State group.

Two Russian embassy staff members were killed in a suicide bombing outside the offices earlier this month, the latest attack in the capital claimed by the group.

Opinion

Editorial

Debt that stays
30 Jul, 2026

Debt that stays

THE power sector’s circular debt grew by Rs61bn in the last fiscal year, taking the total to roughly Rs1.67tr from...
HIV warning
30 Jul, 2026

HIV warning

THE HIV infections detected around two SESSI-run hospitals in Karachi demand far more than another hurried committee...
End trafficking
30 Jul, 2026

End trafficking

MODERN slavery, in the form of human trafficking, is among the state’s gravest failures. Scores of Pakistanis are...
AJK elections
29 Jul, 2026

AJK elections

CONSIDERING the political unrest that has rocked Azad Jammu and Kashmir in the recent past, free and fair general...
Still vulnerable
29 Jul, 2026

Still vulnerable

THE State Bank’s decision to hold the policy rate at 11.5pc is a prudent response to the heightened risks the...
Guarding the past
29 Jul, 2026

Guarding the past

THE return of 513 smuggled archaeological artefacts from the US is a welcome homecoming for objects that should ...