Kabul: A bomb exploded in the entrance of a mosque in the Afghan capital on Sunday leaving a “number of civilians dead”, a Taliban spokesman said.
The bomb targeted the sprawling Eidgah Mosque in Kabul, where a memorial service was being held for the mother of Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, who later tweeted the attack had claimed civilian lives.
Emergency NGO, an Italian-funded hospital in Kabul, tweeted it had received four people wounded in the blast.
The area around the mosque was cordoned off by the Taliban who maintained a heavy security presence.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. However, since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in mid-August, attacks by Islamic State group militants against them have increased. The rise has raised the possibility of a wider conflict between the two extremist groups.
IS maintains a strong presence in the eastern province of Nangarhar and considers the Taliban an enemy. It has claimed several attacks against them, including several killings in the provincial capital of Jalalabad.