At least 12 people were killed in a car bomb attack outside Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan mosque in downtown Kabul on Friday afternoon, two sources and an eyewitness said, adding that the casualties might be higher.
A Taliban spokesman, Khalid Zadran, said that seven civilians were killed and 41 more were wounded in the explosion that happened when people were leaving the mosque after Friday prayers.
Two other sources who live in the area said the death toll is two to three times higher than reported by the Taliban.
Women and children were also among those killed and wounded in the blast.
“I was at the clinic near the blast site, I came out to check on the situation, the situation was so bad, I saw dead and injured people around, and I picked up injured people,” said Nooryalai, an eyewitness, as quoted by Reuters.
“I think around 12 people died, and there were many injured as well, most of them were residents, and a few of them were military personnel, there were women and children among the casualties,” he said.
The explosion took place in Wazir Akbar Khan, an area of the capital once home to the city’s “green zone” where many foreign embassies and NATO were based under the previous government.
Former president Hamid Karzai condemned the blast, calling it a terrorist attack that contravenes all human and Islamic values.
UN office in Afghanistan also denounced the attack and said it is “another bitter reminder of ongoing insecurity and terrorist activity in Afghanistan” that caused numerous casualties.
