Up to 10 killed as blast rips through mosque in Kabul

KABUL (AFP) - A blast in the Afghan capital ripped through a mosque and killed at least 10 people on Friday, an Interior Ministry official said.

A wave of deadly bombings has rocked the country in the last two weeks of the fasting month of Ramadan – some claimed by the Islamic State group – killing dozens of civilians.

"Many worshippers were at the Khalifa Sahib mosque when the blast went off," a survivor who gave his name as Ahmad told AFP. "Many victims were thrown off their feet."

Bloodied casualties were ferried in ambulances to a hospital in central Kabul but Taliban fighters barred journalists from accessing the facility.

"The blast occurred two hours after Friday prayers as worshippers were performing rituals," Interior Ministry Deputy Spokesman Bismillah Habib told AFP, adding at least 15 people were injured.

Friday's blast came hours after Afghanistan's supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada praised the country's security apparatus in a message ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of Ramadan.

While he made no mention of the recent spate of bombings, he said Afghanistan had been able to build 'a strong Islamic and national army,' as well as 'a strong intelligence organisation'.

It comes a day after two bombs on separate minibuses killed at least nine people in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

A bomb at a mosque in the city a week earlier killed at least 12 worshippers and wounded scores more.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for several of the recent attacks. The regional branch of IS in Sunni-majority Afghanistan has repeatedly targeted Shiites and minorities such as Sufis, who follow a mystical branch of Islam.

IS is a Sunni Islamist group, like the Taliban, but the two are bitter rivals.

The biggest ideological difference is that the Taliban pursued an Afghanistan free of foreign forces, whereas IS wants an Islamic caliphate stretching from Turkey to Pakistan and beyond.

Taliban officials insist their forces have defeated IS, but analysts say the jihadist group remains a key security challenge.