On 8 October 2021, an ISIS-K

suicide bombing A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...

occurred at the

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

Gozar-e-Sayed Abad Mosque in the

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

city of

Kunduz , native_name_lang = prs , other_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Kunduz River valley.jpg , imagesize = 300 , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_ ...

. Over 50 people were killed, and another 100 were injured, but according to an estimate by the

United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan ('UNAMA'') is a UN Special Political Mission tasked with assisting the people of Afghanistan. UNAMA was established on 28 March 2002 by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1401. Revi ...

, more than 100 people were killed and wounded.

Background

Since 2015, an affiliate of the

Islamic State An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

, the

Islamic State – Khorasan Province The Islamic State – Khorasan Province (; ISKP) is an affiliate of the Islamic State militant group active in South Asia and Central Asia. Some media sources also use the terms ISK (or IS–K), ISISK (or ISIS–K), IS–KP, Daesh–Khorasan or D ...

, have carried out attacks in Afghanistan. The

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

took control of Afghanistan in August 2021; IS-KP attacks since then include a

bombing A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanica ...

at the

Kabul International Airport , nativename-r = , image = Flightline at Kabul International Airport.jpeg , caption = The flightline at Kabul International Airport in January 2012 , IATA = KBL , ICAO = OAKB , ...

in which 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops were killed.

Explosion

The explosion took place during the weekly Friday noon-time prayer service at the Gozar-e-Sayed Abad Mosque. Witnesses stated that they were praying at the time of the explosion and noticed many bodies and blood on the floors as they were being evacuated from the scene. Bodies of the dead and injured were taken to the nearby hospital where distraught family members wait at the entrance. After the attack, smoke filled the mosque building and rose over the city. Photos and videos of the scene posted on

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

showed blood splattered on the floor and walls of the mosque. The bodies of victims were also seen in uploaded medias.

Casualties

An initial assessment by the

estimated over 100 individuals may have been killed. The local Kunduz Provincial Hospital reported 35 deaths and more than 50 injuries. Twenty fatalities were reported from

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is a humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation (NGO) or charity of French origin known for its projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases. M ...

. According to a Taliban official, there were 100 victims, adding that most were dead. The official death toll provided to media outlets is 50, and 143 others were injured. Local health officials feared the death toll could rise to as high as 80.

Perpetrator

The

(ISIS-K) has claimed responsibility for the blast, and confirmed via a Telegram channel that a suicide bomber had detonated the explosive vest in the crowded mosque during Friday prayers. According to the ISIS-K, the bomber was a Uyghur who targeted both

Shiites Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most n ...

and the

for their purported willingness to appease China by expelling Uyghurs. Most militant Uyghur Muslims in western China and eastern Afghanistan are believed to belong to the

East Turkestan Islamic Movement The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) or the Turkistan Islamic Movement (TIM), formerly known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and other names, is a Uyghur Islamic extremist organization founded in Western China. Its stated goals ar ...

Response

The

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

has condemned the attack, adding that it is part of a string of attacks at places of worship. Less than a week earlier, an attack at the

Id Gah Mosque Eid Gah Mosque or Id Gah Mosque ( prs, مسجد عید‌گاه), is the second largest mosque in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. It is considered the cardinal religious mosque in the country, where a million people offer Eid prayers twice a ...

killed five people. The Taliban security chief in Kunduz released a statement that they pledge to provide security to Shiite Muslims, and that such an attack "would not happen again". An inquiry into the blast was also underway, according to the deputy police chief for Kunduz province.

Ned Price Edward "Ned" Price (born November 22, 1982) is an American political advisor and former intelligence officer serving as spokesman for the United States Department of State since 2021. He worked at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2006 ...

, the

spokesperson for the United States Department of State The Spokesperson for the United States Department of State is a U.S. government official whose primary responsibility is to serve as the spokesperson for the United States Department of State and the U.S. government's foreign policies. The posi ...

said the Biden administration condemned the attack, adding that the "Afghan people deserve a future free of terror". On 15 October 2021, an IS-KP suicide bomber killed 65 people at a Shia mosque in

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

References

2021 murders in Afghanistan 2020s building bombings 2021 mosque bombing 21st-century mass murder in Afghanistan Attacks on buildings and structures in 2021 Attacks on religious buildings and structures in Afghanistan Attacks on Shiite mosques Building bombings in Afghanistan 2021 mosque bombing ISIL terrorist incidents in Afghanistan Islamic terrorist incidents in 2021 Mass murder in 2021 Mosque bombings by Islamists Mosque bombings in Asia October 2021 crimes in Asia October 2021 events in Afghanistan Suicide bombings in 2021 Suicide bombings in Afghanistan Terrorist incidents in Afghanistan in 2021 Violence against Shia Muslims in Afghanistan {{Portal bar, Afghanistan, War