Taliban: several dead in the attack on the Kabul mosque

A bomb attack just outside the main mosque in Kabul, the Afghan capital, left at least two dead and several injured, the Taliban said.

Sunday’s attack occurred during a memorial service for the mother of Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The bombing at the entrance to the Eid Gah Mosque is considered the first major attack in Kabul since a suicide bombing killed 13 US servicemen and dozens of other Afghans at the city’s airport during evacuations from the country at the end of August.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, but ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K), which operates in Afghanistan, claimed responsibility for the August suicide bombing. In recent weeks, the group has also taken credit for a number of explosions in the eastern provincial capital of Nangarhar, the Journal noted.

ISIS-K sees the Taliban as an enemy for not adopting a more conservative framework of Islam.

Members of the Taliban could be seen talking to drivers and rummaging in cars near the mosque, according to the Journal.

A spokesperson for the Home Office told the Washington Post that officials were investigating the nature of the bombing and warned the death toll could rise.

The Taliban deputy spokesman told the Post that none of the group’s fighters were killed, noting that civilians were killed and injured.

The international community has feared the country could become a hotbed of terrorism since the United States evacuated its troops before the self-imposed August 31 deadline.

–Update at 13:34