| 2022 Kabul mosque bombing | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Afghanistan conflict | |
  Kabul Kabul (Afghanistan) | |
| Location | Kabul, Afghanistan |
| Date | 29 April 2022 |
| Deaths | 10–50+ |
| Injured | ~30 |
On 29 April 2022, a bombing occurred at a Sunni mosque in western Kabul, Afghanistan during the early afternoon of 29 April 2022, killing at least 10 people. [1]
The bombing was the latest in a series of attacks occurring in April 2022, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Many of the attacks were claimed by the Islamic State and its affiliates, and most of them targeted Shi'a and Sufi civilians. At least 70 people were killed, making it one of the deadliest waves of attacks in the country since the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. [2] [3] The deadliest of the previous attacks was the bombing in Kunduz.
The worshippers had congregated at the mosque for Dhikr prayers, which are considered to be heretical ( bidʻah ) by some radical Sunni groups. [4]
The bombing occurred around 2:00 pm at the Khalifa Aga Gul Jan Mosque in Kabul, where hundreds of congregants were gathered for prayers. [5] Interior ministry spokesman Mohammad Nafi Takor confirmed ten fatalities. Sayed Fazil Agha, the mosque's leader, said more than 50 died. [6] Police chief spokesman Khalid Zadran said as many as 30 people were wounded. [7]
Agha and a number of witnesses said the attack was committed by suicide bombers. [6] The terrorist group Islamic State did not claim responsibility for the attack, but they are the main suspect.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the attack and vowed justice.
The United Nations condemned the bombing as "heinous" and "yet another painful blow to the people of Afghanistan who continue to be exposed to unremitting insecurity and violence". Mette Knudsen, the U.N. secretary general's deputy special representative for Afghanistan, called it "despicable". [6]
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The Qatif and Dammam mosque bombings occurred on 22 and 29 May 2015. On Friday May 22, a suicide bomber attacked the Shia "Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque" situated in Qudeih village of Qatif city in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the blast, which killed at least 21 people. The event is the second deadly attack against Shia in six months.
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The Islamic State–Taliban conflict is an ongoing armed conflict between the Islamic State and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The conflict escalated when militants who were affiliated with Islamic State – Khorasan Province killed Abdul Ghani, a senior Taliban commander in Logar province on 2 February 2015. Since then, the Taliban and IS-KP have engaged in clashes over the control of territory, mostly in eastern Afghanistan, but clashes have also occurred between the Taliban and IS-KP cells which are located in the north-west and south-west.
The 2019 Kabul mosque bombing occurred around 01:20pm on 24 May 2019 when worshippers and the imam were inside the mosque for Friday prayer. The explosives were placed in the mosque's microphone which was used by the imam. At least three people were killed, including the imam, Samiullah Rayhan, and nearly 20 people were injured. So far, no group or individual has claimed to be responsible for the attack.
On 1 July 2019, a combined gun and bomb attack took place in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood of Kabul, Afghanistan. The attackers initially detonated a bomb-laden truck, after which five gunmen entered a nearby building under construction and fired on Afghan security personnel evacuating people onto the street. At least forty-five were killed, including the five attackers. The spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Public Health, Wahidullah Mayar, said that 116 civilians, including 26 children and 5 women, were wounded. The Taliban claimed the responsibility for the bomb attack in Kabul and said although civilians were not the Taliban target, some were injured.
On 17 August 2019, a suicide bombing took place during a wedding in a wedding hall in Kabul, Afghanistan. At least 92 people were killed in the attack and over 140 injured. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for the bombing, stating that the attack targeted the Shi'ites. More than 1,000 people were gathered for the wedding when the attack took place. The attack occurred a day before the 100th Afghan Independence Day, causing the government to postpone the planned celebrations taking place at the Darul Aman Palace. It was the deadliest attack in Kabul since January 2018.
In May 2020, a series of insurgent attacks took place in Afghanistan, starting when the Taliban killed 20 Afghan soldiers and wounded 29 others in Zari, Balkh and Grishk, Helmand on 1 and 3 May, respectively. On 12 May, a hospital's maternity ward in Kabul and a funeral in Kuz Kunar (Khewa), Nangarhar were attacked, resulting in the deaths of 56 people and injuries of 148 others, including newborn babies, mothers, nurses, and mourners. ISIL–KP claimed responsibility for the funeral bombing, but no insurgent group claimed responsibility for the hospital shooting.
On 8 May 2021, a car bombing, followed by two more improvised explosive device (IED) blasts, occurred in front of Sayed al-Shuhada school in Dashte Barchi, a predominantly Shia Hazara area in western Kabul, Afghanistan, leaving at least 90 people dead and 240 injured. The majority of the casualties were girls between 11 and 15 years old. The attack took place in a neighborhood that has frequently been attacked by militants belonging to the regional Islamic State – Khorasan Province (IS-K) over the years.
On 8 October 2021, an ISIS-K suicide bombing occurred at the Shia Gozar-e-Sayed Abad Mosque in the Afghan city of Kunduz. Over 50 people were killed, and another 100 were injured, but according to an estimate by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, more than 100 people were killed and wounded.
On 4 March 2022, the Islamic State – Khorasan Province attacked a Shia mosque at Qissa Khwani Bazaar in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The suicide attack, carried out by an Afghan man who was a long-term resident of Pakistan, killed at least 63 people and injured another 196. The Islamist terror group Islamic State – Khorasan Province claimed responsibility for the attack.
On 21 April 2022, a powerful bomb rocked the Shia Seh Dokan mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh Province, Afghanistan killing at least 31 people and injuring more than 87 others. The Islamic State – Khorasan Province claimed responsibility via Telegram.
On April 21, 2022, several separate explosions rocked different parts of Afghanistan. The first explosion occurred at the biggest Shia Muslim Seh Dokan mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan. Over 31 people were killed and another 87 were injured in the mosque explosion. Another explosion targeted a vehicle exploded near a police station Kunduz city, leaving 4 dead and 18 injured. A mine planted explosion hit a van of the military in Khogiani killing four Taliban members and wounding a fifth. The roadside bomb wounded two children in the Niaz Beyk area of Kabul. Islamic State (ISIL) has claimed several attacks including the bombing of the Seh Dokan mosque.
On 22 April 2022, the Sufi Mawlawi Sekandar Mosque in Kunduz, Afghanistan was bombed, leaving 33 people dead and 43 others injured.
On 25 May 2022, at least 5 people were killed when the Hazrat Zakaria Mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan, was bombed. At least 17 others were injured. The cause of the bombing was an improvised explosive device that had been hidden inside the mosque prior to the bombing. It detonated during the Maghrib prayers.
On 23 September 2022 a car bomb exploded outside a mosque in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighbourhood of Kabul, Afghanistan. The explosion happened as worshippers were leaving the building after finishing Friday prayers. Police said that seven people had been killed and 41 injured.
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