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.



Taiwan Indicts Four Suspected Spies for China in Case Reaching Presidential Office

The Taipei 101 building stands among residential and commercial buildings in Taipei on June 10, 2025. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP)
The Taipei 101 building stands among residential and commercial buildings in Taipei on June 10, 2025. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP)
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Taiwan Indicts Four Suspected Spies for China in Case Reaching Presidential Office

The Taipei 101 building stands among residential and commercial buildings in Taipei on June 10, 2025. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP)
The Taipei 101 building stands among residential and commercial buildings in Taipei on June 10, 2025. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP)

Taipei prosecutors indicted four people on Tuesday suspected of spying for China in a case that reached Taiwan's presidential office, seeking jail terms of more than 18 years.

Democratically-governed Taiwan says it has faced heightened military and political pressure over the past five years or so from Beijing, which views the island as sovereign Chinese territory, a position Taipei's government rejects.

In a statement, Taipei prosecutors said the four, all previously members of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, had been indicted on espionage and other charges.

One of them was a former assistant to then foreign minister Joseph Wu, now head of the National Security Council, while another was a former presidential office adviser, sources familiar with the matter have previously told Reuters.

The Taipei prosecutors said in a statement that their suspected crimes included divulging or delivering classified national security information to China.

Jail sentences of 18 years or more are being sought, the statement added.

Reuters was not able to immediately locate contact details for legal representatives of any of those indicted.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment.

Last week, Taiwan's presidential office said it could not comment on the cases given the ongoing legal proceedings.

But it said that any person, regardless of party affiliation, who has "betrayed the country, collaborated with hostile external forces and committed crimes that hurt the whole nation" should be subject to the most severe punishment.