Taliban pledge to step up security as Shi’ite victims buried in Afghanistan By Reuters

KABUL (Reuters) -Taliban authorities pledged to step up safety at Shi’ite mosques as a whole bunch of individuals gathered on Saturday to bury the victims of the second Islamic State suicide assault on worshippers in per week.

Hardline Sunni group Islamic State claimed duty for the assault on the Fatima mosque in Kandahar that noticed a gaggle of suicide bombers shoot their approach into the mosque earlier than blowing themselves up among the many worshippers throughout Friday prayers.

A well being official stated the casualty toll from the assault stood at 41 useless and 70 wounded however may rise additional. “A number of the wounded are in a crucial situation and we are attempting to switch them to Kabul,” he stated.

On Saturday, giant crowds gathered to bury the white-shrouded victims in a mass grave within the southern metropolis of Kandahar.

The top of Kandahar police stated items could be assigned to guard the Shi’ite mosques which have to this point been guarded by native volunteer forces with particular permission to hold weapons.

“Sadly they might not shield this space and in future we are going to assign particular safety guards for the safety of mosques and Madrasas,” he stated in a press release posted on Twitter (NYSE:) by a Taliban spokesman.

The assault on the Fatima mosque, the biggest Shi’ite mosque in Kandahar, often known as the Imam Bargah mosque, got here per week after the same assault on a mosque within the northern metropolis of Kunduz, which killed as many as 80 folks.

Assaults on Shi’ite mosques and targets related to the Hazara ethnic minority, who make up the largest Shi’ite group in Afghanistan, had been common occurrences underneath the previous Western-backed authorities.

There was deep shock because the assaults have continued for the reason that Taliban seized energy in August, tarnishing the motion’s declare to have introduced peace to Afghanistan after many years of conflict.

For the reason that takeover, Islamic State has performed dozens of operations, from small scale assaults on Taliban targets to large-scale operations akin to Friday’s suicide bombing, killing scores of civilians.