At least 11 killed in blast at Shia mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif

Kabul: An explosion at a Shi'ite mosque in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif has killed at least 11 people on Thursday, police and hospital officials said, RFE/RL reported.

Zia Zendani, spokesman for the provincial health authority in the city, said that 11 people have been killed and 32 wounded in the blast.

A separate attack caused at least 11 more casualties in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, according to a provincial health official.

Earlier on Thursday, a roadside blast in Kabul injured at least two children, the fifth explosion this week in the Afghan capital.

No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, which came during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and two days after explosions tore through a high school in a predominantly Shi'ite Hazara area in western Kabul, killing at least six.

The Shi'ite religious minority is frequently targeted by Sunni militant groups, including the Islamic State.

In May 2021, bombings near a school in the same area of the Afghan capital had killed at least 85 civilians, mainly schoolgirls, and injured dozens of others.

Hazaras, an ethnic minority that widely feels under siege around the country, comprise about 9 per cent of the 36 million people currently living in Afghanistan, RFE/RL reported.

Security forces said an investigation into the blast in Mazar-e-Sharif is underway.