21 killed in blast at mosque in latest attack in Afghanistan with civilian victims

UN urges Taliban to act to prevent terror in country

A blast that tore through a Kabul mosque during evening prayers on Wednesday killed 21 people, Kabul police said yesterday, as the United Nations expressed concern over a growing number of civilian casualties from explosions.

Police spokesman Khalid Zadran said that another 33 people had been injured in the blast, which witnesses told Reuters shattered the windows of buildings near the mosque in a northern Kabul neighbourhood.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the incident and the authorities did not publicly assign blame.

The Taliban said it was restoring security to the war-torn country, which has seen an overall drop in violence since the group took over and defeated a United States-backed government a year ago.

However, several large attacks, some claimed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror group, have taken place in urban centres in recent months.