Alwaght- At least 30 people have been killed in a terrorist attack at Shiite mosque in the western Afghan province of Herat.
"At around 8:00pm (1530 GMT) tonight (Tuesday), a terrorist attack was carried out on a mosque in the third security district of Herat city," Herat police spokesman Abdul Ahad Walizada told journalists.
Some local Afghan media reports put the death toll at 33 with several of the injured said to be in critical condition after the deadly suicide bomb attack.
Mehdi Hadid, a lawmaker from Herat, who went to the site soon after the explosion told The Associated Press that the scene was one of horrific carnage. He estimated at least 100 dead and wounded were scattered throughout the Jawadia Mosque.
The attack took place in the middle of evening prayers when the mosque was packed with about 300 worshipers.
Hadid said he rushed to the mosque after hearing about the explosion. He was told the attacker first fired on the private guards outside the mosque before entering. When inside, he fired on the praying worshippers until his rifle jammed then he blew himself up.
Dozens of local residents, who are mostly Shiite, attacked the police station pelting it with stones and setting it on fire, said Jalani Farhad, the provincial governor's spokesman.
Shiites are a minority in Afghanistan and have been threatened by the affiliate of ISIS that operates in the country's east.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousaf Ahmadi has denied responsibility for the deadly attack.
The explosion at the mosque comes a day after an attack on the Iraqi embassy in Kabul, which was claimed by the ISIS group killed two people.
Afghanistan is still suffering from insecurity and violence years after the United States and its allies invaded the country in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The invasion removed the Taliban from power, but militancy still rages on in the country.
In recent months, ISIS Takfiri terrorists have been penetrating Afghanistan through alliances with local terrorist groups.
