Kabul, 30 April 2024, (GNP): Residents claim that the mosque catered to the Shia minority in a district situated south of the provincial capital, Herat city. The casualties included the imam and a three-year-old child.
According to local media reports, an assault on a mosque in western Afghanistan has resulted in the deaths of at least six individuals, with several others wounded.
The incident occurred when unidentified gunmen attacked worshipers during evening prayers at a Shia mosque in Andisheh town, also referred to as Guzara or Gozareh district, in Herat province. Tolo News provided this information.
Interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said around 9:00 pm (1630 GMT) “an unknown armed person shot at civilian worshippers in a mosque” in Herat province’s Guzara district.
“Six civilians were martyred and one civilian was injured,” he wrote on social media platform X early Tuesday morning.
Residents stated that the mosque catered to the minority Shia community in a district located just south of the provincial capital of Herat city.
Among those killed were the imam and a three-year-old child. Additionally, locals claimed that a team of three gunmen carried out the attack, which contradicts the official narrative.
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“One of them was outside and two of them came inside the mosque, shooting the worshippers,” said 60-year-old Ibrahim Akhlaqi, the brother of the slain imam. He also added, “It was in the middle of the prayers.”
Taliban officials in the area have yet to provide any official comments on the incident, leaving the circumstances surrounding the attack unclear. No group has come forward to claim responsibility for the violence.
Herat, the third-largest city in Afghanistan and positioned near the border with Iran, witnessed the tragic event unfold. The Iranian Embassy in Kabul swiftly condemned the attack on the mosque, expressing solidarity with the victims and their families during this challenging time.