NEW DELHI, Sept 2: At least 18 people including a high-profile pro-Taliban cleric were killed and nearly two dozen people injured in an explosion just outside a crowded mosque in Herat in western Afghanistan on Friday, Herat’s police spokesperson Mahmood Rasoli said.
“Mujib Rahman Ansari with some of his guards and civilians, have been killed on their way toward the mosque,” Rasoli said. The authorities described the blast as “an attack” on Afghanistan.
The blast went off in the Guzargah Mosque in Herat during Friday noon prayers, the highlight of the Muslim religious week when places of worship are particularly crowded. Mujib-ul Rahman Ansari, a prominent cleric, was known across Afghanistan for his criticism of the country’s Western-backed governments over the past two decades. Ansari was seen as close to the Taliban, who seized control over the country a year ago as foreign forces withdrew.
His death was confirmed by the chief Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid. Ambulances transported 18 bodies and 21 wounded people from the blast to hospitals in Herat, Mohammad Daud Mohammadi, an official at the Herat ambulance centre said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Friday’s blast. Most of the previous mosque attacks have been claimed by the Islamic State extremist group, which has carried out a series of attacks against religious and ethnic minorities in Afghanistan, as well as Taliban targets.
The Herat mosque draws followers of Sunni Islam, the dominant stream in Afghanistan that is also followed by the Taliban. In the year since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, Islamic State attacked several mosques in suicide attacks during Friday prayers, with a focus on targeting Shiite Muslims. Islamic State followers are also Sunnis and consider Shiites to be infidels.
Zabihullah Mujahid, in a tweet expressed “strong condolences” over Ansari’s death and said his attackers would be punished. Mujib Rahman Ansari had spoken strongly in defence of the Taliban at a large gathering of thousands of scholars and elders organised by the group in late June, condemning anyone who stood against their administration.
The Taliban say they have improved security in the country since taking power around a year ago, but there have been several blasts in recent months, some of them targeting busy mosques during prayers. The United Nations has raised concerns about the growing number of attacks and some blasts have been claimed by a local branch of the Islamic State.
(Manas Dasgupta)