Suicide bombing at mosque in Afghanistan kills at least 29
KABUL — Two suicide bombers attacked a Shiite mosque in eastern Afghanistan during Friday prayers, killing at least 29 people and wounding another 81, officials said.
Abdullah Asrat, spokesman for the governor of Paktia province, said the heavily armed attackers, disguised in the all-encompassing burkas worn by conservative Afghan women, opened fire on private security guards outside the mosque in the city of Gardez. Then they slipped inside and set off their explosives among around 100 worshippers.
Five of the seriously wounded were small children, he said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan has targeted Shiite worshippers in the past. The group has also warned Afghanistan’s minority Shiites that their houses of worship would be targeted.