A bombing at a mosque in the Afghan capital of Kabul during evening prayers has killed at least 10 people, including a prominent cleric, and wounded at least 27, an eyewitness and police said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Wednesday's attack, the latest to strike the country in the year since the Taliban seized power. Several children were reported to be among the wounded.
There were fears the casualty numbers could rise further.
Al Jazeera quoted an unidentified official as giving a death toll of 20.
According to the eyewitness, a resident of the city's Khair Khana neighbourhood where the Siddiquiya Mosque was targeted, the explosion was carried out by a suicide bomber.
The slain cleric was Mullah Amir Mohammad Kabuli, the eyewitness said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.
He added that more than 30 other people were wounded. The Italian Emergency hospital in Kabul said that at least 27 wounded civilians, including five children, were brought there from the site of the bomb blast.
Khalid Zadran, the Taliban-appointed spokesperson for the Kabul police chief, confirmed an explosion inside a mosque in northern Kabul but would not provide a casualty toll or a breakdown of the dead and wounded.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also condemned the explosion and vowed that the "perpetrators of such crimes will soon be brought to justice and will be punished."
Daesh attacks
Daesh terror group's local affiliate has stepped up attacks targeting the Taliban and civilians since the Taliban's takeover last August as US and NATO troops were in the final stages of their withdrawal from the country.
Last week, Daesh claimed responsibility for killing a prominent Taliban cleric at his religious centre in Kabul.
A US-led invasion toppled the previous Taliban government following September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.
Since regaining power, Taliban has faced a crippling economic crisis as the international community, which does not recognise the Taliban government, froze funding to the country.
Source: AP
