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Death toll in Kabul Shiite mosque attack jumps to 56: officials

It was one of two deadly mosque attacks in the country on Friday

Afp October 21, 2017

Afghan residents inspect the Imam Zaman Shiite mosque the day after a suicide attack during Friday evening prayers, in Kabul on October 21, 2017. A strong smell of blood and flesh permeated the Imam Zaman mosque in Kabul on October 21 hours after dozens of Shiite worshippers were slaughtered by a suicide bomber during evening prayers. Broken glass and dust covered the red carpet, soaked in the blood of the men, women and children who had been praying on Friday when the attacker blew himself up, causing carnage in the cavernous prayer hall. / AFP PHOTO / WAKIL KOHSAR

KABUL: The death toll in the Shiite mosque attack in Kabul has jumped to 56, officials said on Saturday, as the Afghan capital reels from the latest deadly violence.

"The toll from yesterday's Imam Zaman mosque attack has increased to 56 killed, including women and children, and 55 wounded," an interior ministry spokesman said.

Officials had previously put the number of dead at 39 and 45 wounded in the attack claimed by the Islamic State group, which belongs to the rival Sunni branch of Islam.

'Smell of blood and flesh' in Kabul mosque hit by suicide bomber

The lone suicide attacker struck as worshippers gathered for evening prayer on Friday at the mosque in a heavily Shiite neighbourhood in the west of the city.

It was one of two deadly mosque attacks in the country on Friday, capping one of the bloodiest weeks in Afghanistan in recent memory.
The second assault happened in the impoverished and remote province of Ghor where a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing 20 and wounding 10 others, the interior ministry said.

People expressed anger at the government's inability to protect its citizens in the Afghan capital, which accounted for nearly 20 percent of the country's civilian deaths in the first half of the year.