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Dozens killed in mosque blast, as violence grips Afghanistan

 

Dozens of people were killed, and many more injured, after an explosion at a mosque in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, the latest in a wave of deadly attacks in the country in recent weeks.

The mosque, in the city of Khost, was also being used as a voter registration centre, ahead of parliamentary elections in October.

The blast was caused by a bomb placed in the mosque, rather than by a suicide bomber, Khost’s Chief of Police Basir Bina told CNN.

The Taliban denied involvement in the blast, and so far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which happened at 2:20pm local time.

It is the latest in a wave of deadly attacks to hit the war-torn country in recent weeks. On Monday, nine journalists were killed in the capital Kabul when a bomber disguised as a TV cameraman detonated a second bomb at the site of an earlier explosion.

Among the dead was Agence France Presse photographer Shah Marai, a father of six and chief photographer in the agency’s bureau there. He had covering the Afghan conflict for over 15 years.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.

Also killed in a separate attack on the same day was 29-year-old BBC reporter Ahmad Shah who was shot by unknown gunmen, also in Khost province.

That day, a suicide bomber in Kandahar Province, southern Afghanistan, also killed 11 students at a local religious school. So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

In addition, 22-year-old US soldier, Gabriel Conde, was also killed that day in a combat operation in the east of the country — the first US combat death in Afghanistan since January 1.

Several members of the Afghan security forces were also killed in the operation, according to the US Department of Defense.

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