Suicide Blast Kills 27 Afghan Soldiers at Army Base Mosque

Bomber detonated during Friday prayers

A suicide bomber carried out an attack during Friday prayers in Afghanistan’s Khost Province, targeting soldiers inside a mosque located on an army base. At least 27 were killed, and Afghan officials say they were all security forces.

There has been no claim of responsibility, but in this area, it is believed this would be a Taliban attack. The Taliban in particular has been targeting army bases in recent weeks around Afghanistan.

Provincial officials say that at least 79 more soldiers were wounded in the attack, and that the Defense Ministry had to send military helicopters to the base to evacuate all of the wounded to hospitals in the area.

This was the second major suicide bombing at a religious gathering this week. Earlier in the week at least 55 scholars were killed in Kabul during a religious ceremony.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.