KABUL – A deadly explosion in a mosque in the Afghan capital killed 21 people, Afghan police said

CNN
–

Explosion inside a mosque during evening prayers AfghanistanOn Wednesday, the capital killed 21 people and wounded 33 others, according to a spokesman for the Kabul police chief.

The spokesman added that the security forces are investigating the incident, which occurred in the city police area 17.

Emergency Health Care said it had treated dozens of victims.

“After today’s explosion, we admitted 27 patients to our surgical center for war victims in Kabul, including five minors, one of them a 7-year-old boy,” Stefano Souza, Afghanistan’s emergency country director, told CNN on Wednesday.

“Two dead patients arrived, and one of them died in the emergency room,” he said.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the deaths and injuries of civilians, but did not say how many. He wrote on Twitter that the Taliban government “strongly condemns” the blast, and vowed that “the perpetrators of such crimes will be arrested and punished for their heinous acts.”

Bilal Karimi, the Taliban’s deputy spokesman, condemned the blast in a tweet on Wednesday evening.

“Civilian killers and perpetrators of similar crimes will soon be arrested and punished for their actions, God willing,” Karimi wrote.

Souza, of the emergency, said Afghanistan was “suffering from the consequences of a very long conflict that has undermined its future”.

“In the month of August alone, we were able to treat six mass casualties in our hospital, with nearly 80 patients. Throughout the year, we continued to receive gunshots, shrapnel injuries, stab wounds, and mine and IED blast victims on a daily basis.”