At least 15 wounded after mosque bombed in Afghanistan

At least 15 people were wounded after a bomb exploded at a mosque in eastern Afghanistan during Friday prayers, the Taliban said.

The bomb looked like it had been placed inside the mosque before it exploded, a spokesman for the eastern Nangarhar Province government, Qari Hanif, said, according to The Associated Press.

It was not immediately clear if the mosque had suffered any deaths, and no group took immediate responsibility for the bombing. 

Unlike previous attacks suffered at Afghan mosques last month, this mosque was attended by Sunni Muslims. The AP noted that the area had been mired in attacks waged between the Taliban and ISIS-K, the ISIS affiliate that operates in Afghanistan. 

The attacks come amid tumult in Afghanistan after the United States withdrew its troops toward the end of August. The country has seen a series of deadly attacks and suicide bombings, especially during the month of October, with several mosques facing attacks during Friday prayers.

One suicide bombing at a mosque in Kunduz, Afghanistan, left more than 40 people dead while a suicide bombing a week later at a mosque in southern Afghanistan killed 47 people. 

In each scenario, ISIS-K, who considers the Taliban to be an enemy of theirs, claimed responsibility. 

A Taliban intelligence service spokesperson said earlier this week that nearly 600 Islamic State members had been arrested by his agency and that at least 33 had been killed by the Taliban.

President Biden and his team have faced criticism for the United States’ chaotic withdrawal from the country, including complaints over leaving some Americans and Afghans behind to clear Afghanistan ahead of the administration’s self-imposed deadline.

However, Biden and others have argued that no amount of time would have made a difference in alleviating the problems existing in the country.