The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the suicide
attack in Afghanistan‘s northeastern Kunduz province on Friday. The report was
cited by the AFP news agency.

The Islamic State said in a statement posted on its Telegram
channels, that an IS suicide bomber “detonated an explosive vest amid a
crowd” of Shiite worshippers who had congregated inside the mosque.

Also Read: At least 100 dead in Afghanistan’s Kunduz mosque blast

The bomber was described as “Muhammad al-Uyguri”
in the statement, indicating that he was a member of China’s mainly Muslim
Uyghur minority.

The blast occurred in a Shiite mosque in Kunduz province
during the weekly Friday prayer service at the Gozar-e-Sayed Abad Mosque. During the
blast, members of the Shiite religious minority typically come in large numbers
for worship.

Matiullah Rohani, director of culture and information in
Kunduz for Afghanistan’s new Taliban government, admitted to AFP that the tragic
incident was a suicide attack and said that 46 people had been killed and 143 were injured.

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Mulawi Dost Muhammad, the Taliban‘s security head in Kunduz,
accused the assailants of attempting to stir up sectarian strife between
Shiites and Sunnis. He denied any dispute between the movement and the minority.”
We assure our Shiite brothers that in the future, we will provide security for
them and that such problems will not happen to them,” he stated.

Videos and photos posted on social media and elsewhere
appear to show people scouring the destroyed mosque and taking a worshipper’s
body from the gruesome scene to an ambulance.

The United Nations in Afghanistan expressed that it is
“deeply concerned by reports of very high casualties” in Friday’s
attack, calling it a “part of a disturbing pattern of violence”.

Also Read: Russia to invite Taliban to Afghanistan international talks on in Moscow

The explosion was “the symptom that the implosion (of
Afghanistan) may also translate into renewed insecurity” UN refugee head
Filippo Grandi told reporters in Geneva.

He added “more people killed, more terrorist attacks,
more instability. And that is also something that we should all be worried
about”.