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Explosion rocks Herat, dozens feared dead or wounded
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A deadly kaboom has taken place in Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
city in West of Afghanistan as there are fears that dozens of people have been killed or maimed.

The incident took place around 8:30 pm local time near Jawadia mosque in the city but the type of the kaboom has not been ascertained so far.

Preliminary reports indicate at least 20 people have been killed and around 30 others have been maimed in the kaboom.

No group or individual has so far grabbed credit behind the incident.

In the meantime, a security source said the incident took place after a jacket wallah detonated his explosives among the prayers in the mosque.

The source further added at least 25 have been killed and around 30 others have been maimed in the attack.

However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds...
the head of the provincial hospital Mohammad Rafiq Sherzai said the dead bodies of at least 20 people have been shifted to the hospital so far.

He said at least 25 others who sustained injuries in the attack were also shifted to the hospital for the treatment.
Al Ahram adds:
A suicide kaboom on a Shi'ite mosque in the western Afghan city of Herat killed more than 29 people and maimed more than 64 on Tuesday, officials said.

Abdulhai Walizada, a local police front man, said there appeared to be more than one attacker on Tuesday, with witnesses describing a jacket wallah who detonated explosives and at least one other, a gunman who threw grenades at worshippers.

"Two attackers entered the mosque and started shooting and throwing grenades at people," said Mohammad Adi, a worshipper at the mosque who was injured in the attack and taken to hospital.

Mohammad Asif Rahimi, governor of Herat, said at least 29 people were killed and 64 maimed in the incident which came two months after an attack on a 12th century mosque known as the Jama Masjid in Herat, in which seven people died.

There was no claim of responsibility. But the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
, fighting to install strict Islamic law and drive foreign troops out of Afghanistan, denied any involvement.

President Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
, whose government has been under mounting pressure because of deteriorating security across the country, condemned the bombing and called on religious scholars to "raise their voices against the terrorist attacks".

Afghanistan has traditionally been relatively free of the sectarian violence common in Iraq or Syria but hardline Sunni Lions of Islam from the local branch of Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
have repeatedly attacked the mainly Shi'ite Hazara minority in the past year.
Update from Al Ahram at 1:10 p.m. EDT:
Islamic State group has grabbed credit for a suicide kaboom on a Shia mosque in Afghanistan that killed and maimed dozens of people on Tuesday, the group's official agency AMAQ said on Wednesday.

"About 50 Shia were killed and 80 maimed in an attack by Islamic State murderous Moslems yesterday on a Husseiniya in the city of Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
in western Afghanistan," AMAQ said.

Officials on Tuesday said the attack had killed more than 29 people and maimed at least 64.


Posted by: Fred 2017-08-02
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=494094