12 Dead in Kabul Mosque Blast

People stand at the site of a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan May 8, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer
People stand at the site of a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan May 8, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer
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12 Dead in Kabul Mosque Blast

People stand at the site of a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan May 8, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer
People stand at the site of a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan May 8, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

At least 12 people were killed after a bomb ripped through a mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul during Friday prayers as worshippers gathered for the second day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, officials said.

Ferdous Faramarz, spokesman for the Kabul police, said the mosque's Imam, Mofti Naiman, was among the 12 dead, and at least 15 other people were wounded.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

An image circulating on social media showed three bodies lying on the floor of the mosque, which showed minor damage.

Taliban insurgents have called a three-day ceasefire for the holiday, which marks the end of the Ramadan holy fasting month.

The blast came less than a week after an explosion at a school killed over 90 people, most of them schoolgirls from the ethnic Hazara Shiite Muslim minority. The Taliban denied involvement and denounced that attack, and no one has claimed responsibility for it. US officials believe it may have been the work of a rival militant group such as ISIS.

Violence, including attacks on civilians, have increased in Afghanistan, even as the United States has begun an operation to withdraw all its remaining troops over the next four months.

Just this week the last of the US troops left southern Kandahar Air Base, while some NATO troops still remained. At the war's peak more than 30,000 US troops were stationed in Kandahar, the Taliban heartland.



Trump Stands behind Hegseth after Attack Plans Shared in Second Signal Chat, White House Says

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attends the 2025 Easter Egg Roll with his family on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, USA 21 April 2025. (EPA)
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attends the 2025 Easter Egg Roll with his family on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, USA 21 April 2025. (EPA)
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Trump Stands behind Hegseth after Attack Plans Shared in Second Signal Chat, White House Says

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attends the 2025 Easter Egg Roll with his family on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, USA 21 April 2025. (EPA)
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attends the 2025 Easter Egg Roll with his family on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, USA 21 April 2025. (EPA)

President Donald Trump stands behind US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Monday, after reports that he shared details of a March attack on Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis in a message group that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer.

The revelations that Hegseth used the unclassified messaging system Signal to share highly sensitive security details for the second time come at a delicate moment for him, with senior officials ousted from the Pentagon last week as part of an internal leak investigation.

“The president absolutely has confidence in Secretary Hegseth. I spoke to him about it this morning, and he stands behind him," Leavitt told reporters on Monday.

In the second chat, Hegseth shared details of the attack similar to those revealed last month by The Atlantic magazine after its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was included in a separate chat on the Signal app by mistake, Reuters reported on Sunday.

The second chat included about a dozen people and was created during Hegseth's confirmation process to discuss administrative issues rather than detailed military planning. Among them was Hegseth's brother, who is a Department of Homeland Security liaison to the Pentagon.

Leavitt said Hegseth shared no classified information on either Signal chat.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, Hegseth said, "I have spoken to the president, and we are going to continue fighting on the same page all the way."

The latest revelation comes days after Dan Caldwell, one of Hegseth's leading advisers, was escorted from the Pentagon after being identified during an investigation into leaks at the Department of Defense.

Caldwell played a critical role for Hegseth and was named as the Pentagon's point person by the secretary in the first Signal chat.

"We are incredibly disappointed by the manner in which our service at the Department of Defense ended," Caldwell posted on X on Saturday. "Unnamed Pentagon officials have slandered our character with baseless attacks on our way out the door."

Following Caldwell's departure, less-senior officials Darin Selnick, who recently became Hegseth's deputy chief of staff, and Colin Carroll, who was chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, were put on administrative leave and fired on Friday.

John Ullyot, the Pentagon’s former top spokesperson who stepped down last week, criticized the Pentagon leader in a POLITICO Magazine opinion piece published Sunday. Ullyot alleged that Hegseth’s team spread unverified claims about three top officials who were fired last week, falsely accusing them of leaking sensitive information to media outlets.