Blast in Afghanistan mosque during Friday prayers, 33 people dead

A bomb blast in Mawlawi Sekander Mosque in the northern Kunduz province has killed 33 people including children. The explosion took place when people gathered for Friday afternoon prayers. The attack comes a day after ISIS claimed responsibility for two similar attacks.

43 people are said to be wounded in the latest attack. It is unclear how the bomb was detonated. One side of the mosque was completely destroyed and large holes were blown through the walls, reported AFP.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted that the regime condemned the crime and expressed "deepest sympathies to the bereaved." After the bombing at a Shiite mosque in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif on Thursday, the Taliban had claimed they have arrested the mastermind of the attack.

ISIS has continued deadly attacks since the Taliban took over the government. The terrorist organisation claim to attack targets it sees as heretical. Last week, two attacks targeted a school and mosque in Shiite neighbourhoods.

The Mawlavi Sikandar mosque is popular among Sufis and groups like ISIS bear hatred for Sufis. Jihadist groups accuse Sufis of polytheism (the belief in or worship of more than one god) for practising prayers of intercession to dead saints. Sufis who follow a mystical branch of Islam and a minority section of Shiites are repeatedly targeted in a Sunni-majority Afghanistan.

Both ISIS and the Taliban are Sunni Islamist groups but have different goals. The Taliban intends to purge Afghanistan of foreign forces and ISIS wants to establish a political-religious state comprising the Muslim community from Turkey to Pakistan and beyond.