Afghanistan: Blast Hits Mosque in Nangarhar Province

A mosque in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar Province was hit with an explosion during Friday prayers. Numbers are not confirmed, but a local doctor told AFP news agency that at least three people were killed and 15 were wounded in the blast.

The mosque is located in the town of Traili, which is just outside Nangarhar’s provincial capital of Jalalabad. A spokesman for the Nangarhar government told The Associated Press that it appeared an explosive was planted inside the mosque.

There have been no claims of responsibility for the attack. ISIS-K has taken credit for other recent mosque bombings, and they are based in Nangarhar, so the group is suspected. Friday’s blast targeted Sunni worshippers, while other attacks claimed by ISIS-K hit Shia mosques.

Since the US completed its withdrawal at the end of August, the Taliban have been busy fighting ISIS-K, and they insist the terror group is not as much of a threat as the West is making them out to be. On Wednesday, a Taliban intelligence official said close to 600 ISIS-K members have been arrested, and 33 have been killed.