Taliban: Several dead in Kabul mosque bombing

A bombing just outside the main mosque in Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul killed at least two people dead and injured several others, the Taliban said.

The attack on Sunday occurred during a memorial service for Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid’s mother, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

The bombing at Eid Gah Mosque’s entrance is considered the first major attack in Kabul since a suicide bombing killed U.S. 13 service members and dozens more Afghans at the city’s airport during evacuations from the nation in late August. 

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

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

Members of the Taliban could be seen speaking to drivers and searching through cars near the mosque, according to the Journal.

An Interior Ministry spokesperson told The Washington Post that officials were investigating the nature of the bombing and warned that the number of casualties could increase. 

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

The international community has worried that the country could become a hotbed for terrorism since the U.S. evacuated its troops ahead of a self-imposed Aug. 31 deadline.

–Updated at 1:34 p.m.