ISIS Claims Responsibility for Kabul Mosque Attack

Security forces inspect the site of a suicide attack outside a mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 29, 2017. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini)
Security forces inspect the site of a suicide attack outside a mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 29, 2017. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini)
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ISIS Claims Responsibility for Kabul Mosque Attack

Security forces inspect the site of a suicide attack outside a mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 29, 2017. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini)
Security forces inspect the site of a suicide attack outside a mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 29, 2017. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini)

ISIS claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a mosque in the Afghan capital as officials on Saturday raised the number of casualties from the attack to at least 39 dead, including children, and at least 41 wounded.

In a statement on its website late Friday, the extremist organization claimed a militant "detonated his explosive vest" during Friday prayers in the Shi’ite Imam Zaman mosque in western Kabul.

The attack was one of two on mosques in the country.

A suicide bombing in western Ghor province struck a Sunni mosque, also during Friday prayers, killing at least 33 people, said Mohammad Iqbal Nizami, spokesman for the provincial chief of police.

The Interior Ministry released a statement Saturday saying it was investigating the attack in Kabul's Dashte-e-Barchi neighborhood. It said the assailant blew himself up as worshipers began their prayers.

The attack on the Sunni mosque took place in the Do Laina district of Ghor province, according to Mohammad Iqbal Nizami, the spokesman for the provincial chief of police. He said the target apparently was a local commander, Abdul Ahed, a former warlord who has sided with the government. Seven of his bodyguards were also killed in the bombing. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

This week has been one of the bloodiest in Afghanistan in recent memory, with more than 70 killed, mostly security forces and Afghan soldiers but also civilians as militant attacks have surged.

The Taliban have taken responsibility for the earlier assaults this week that struck security installations in the east and west of the country.



Pakistan Condemns Trump for Bombing Iran a Day after Recommending Him for a Nobel Peace Prize

In this handout photograph taken and released by Pakistan's Prime Minister Office on April 24, 2025, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chairs a high level security meeting with the chiefs of the Pakistan forces and other government officials at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad. Sharif on April 24 led a rare meeting of the national security committee, the government said, after India accused its neighbor of supporting "cross-border terrorism" and downgraded ties. (Photo by Pakistan's Prime Minister Office / AFP)
In this handout photograph taken and released by Pakistan's Prime Minister Office on April 24, 2025, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chairs a high level security meeting with the chiefs of the Pakistan forces and other government officials at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad. Sharif on April 24 led a rare meeting of the national security committee, the government said, after India accused its neighbor of supporting "cross-border terrorism" and downgraded ties. (Photo by Pakistan's Prime Minister Office / AFP)
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Pakistan Condemns Trump for Bombing Iran a Day after Recommending Him for a Nobel Peace Prize

In this handout photograph taken and released by Pakistan's Prime Minister Office on April 24, 2025, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chairs a high level security meeting with the chiefs of the Pakistan forces and other government officials at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad. Sharif on April 24 led a rare meeting of the national security committee, the government said, after India accused its neighbor of supporting "cross-border terrorism" and downgraded ties. (Photo by Pakistan's Prime Minister Office / AFP)
In this handout photograph taken and released by Pakistan's Prime Minister Office on April 24, 2025, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chairs a high level security meeting with the chiefs of the Pakistan forces and other government officials at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad. Sharif on April 24 led a rare meeting of the national security committee, the government said, after India accused its neighbor of supporting "cross-border terrorism" and downgraded ties. (Photo by Pakistan's Prime Minister Office / AFP)

Pakistan condemned US President Donald Trump for bombing Iran, less than 24 hours after saying he deserved a Nobel Peace Prize for defusing a recent crisis with India.

Relations between the two South Asian countries plummeted after a massacre of tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir in April. The nuclear-armed rivals stepped closer to war in the weeks that followed, attacking each other until intense diplomatic efforts, led by the US, resulted in a truce for which Trump took credit.

It was this “decisive diplomatic intervention and pivotal leadership” that Pakistan praised in an effusive message Saturday night on the X platform when it announced its formal recommendation for him to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

Less than 24 hours later, however, it condemned the US for attacking Iran, saying the strikes “constituted a serious violation of international law” and the statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a phone call Sunday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, expressed his concern that the bombings had targeted facilities that were under the safeguards of the IAEA. Pakistan has close ties with Iran and supports its attacks on Israel, saying it has the right to self-defense.

There was no immediate comment on Monday from Islamabad about the Trump Nobel recommendation, which also followed a high-profile White House lunch meeting between the president and Pakistan’s powerful army chief, Asim Munir.

Thursday’s meeting, which lasted more than two hours, was also attended by the Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, the US Special Representative for Middle Eastern Affairs.

According to a Pakistani military statement, a detailed exchange of views took place on the “prevailing tensions between Iran and Israel, with both leaders emphasizing the importance of the resolution of the conflict.”

While Pakistan was quick to thank Trump for his intervention in its crisis with India, New Delhi played it down and said there was no need for external mediation on the Kashmir issue.

The Himalayan region of Kashmir is divided between Pakistan and India but claimed by both in its entirety. India accuses Pakistan of backing militant groups in the region, which Pakistan denies.