Attack on Shia mosque in western Afghan city leaves more than 20 dead

A hospital spokesperson says more than 30 people have also been wounded in the deadly attack

HERAT: A suicide bomber and a gunman killed more than 20 people at a Shia mosque in Afghanistan's main western city of Herat on Tuesday, the latest attack to highlight a deteriorating security situation in the country.

The assault on the Jawadya mosque in Herat, which is close to Afghanistan's border with Iran, came a day after the Islamic State (IS) group claimed a deadly attack on the Iraqi embassy in Kabul.

"More than 20 bodies, and more than 30 wounded have so far been brought to the hospital," after the mosque attack, Rafeeq Shirzai, a spokesman for the hospital, said.



Herat police spokesman Abdul Ahad Walizada said the assault happened around 8:00pm (1530 GMT) when "a terrorist attack was carried out on a [Shia] mosque in the third security district of Herat city".

"Based on our initial information two terrorists were involved one of them wearing a suicide vest, who detonated himself while the second one was armed with a rifle. They are both dead," he added.

Afghan interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish initially said he thought it was a car bomb and tweeted that there was a possibility that it was an improvised explosive device.