An explosion at a Shiite mosque in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif on Thursday killed or wounded at least 20 people, a local Taliban commander said.
"A blast happened in 2nd district inside a Shiite mosque, more than 20 killed and injured," Mohammad Asif Wazeri, the spokesman for the Taliban commander in Mazar-i-Sharif, told Reuters.
The blast took place at a Shiite mosque, Zabihullah Noorani, the head of the Balkh province information department, told the Associated Press.
Extremist group ISIS claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack, according to a statement on the group's Telegram channel, Reuters reported.
"Blood and fear are everywhere," Ahmad Zia Zindani, spokesman for the Balkh provincial public health department, told AFP. He said "people were screaming" while seeking news of their relatives at the hospital.
He said 12 people were killed in the blast and 58 wounded, including 32 in serious condition.
"Relatives of victims were arriving at city hospitals looking for their near and dear ones. Many residents were also coming to donate blood," Mr Zindani said.
In another attack on Thursday, a roadside bomb wounded at least two children in the Afghanistan capital Kabul, police said.
Police spokesman Khalid Zadran said in a tweet that the explosives went off in a road in a mostly Shiite neighbourhood in the western part of the city. Several explosions rocked educational institutions in the same area two days earlier, killing at least six people, mostly children, and wounding 17 others.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for Thursday’s explosion in Kabul.
The Shiite community, a religious minority in Afghanistan, is frequently the target of militant groups including ISIS.
Taliban officials insist their forces have defeated the group but analysts say ISIS terrorists remain a key security challenge.
Since seizing power, the Taliban have regularly raided suspected ISIS hideouts in the eastern Nangarhar province.
A resident of Mazar-i-Sharif said she was shopping with her sister at a nearby market when she heard a loud explosion and saw smoke rising from the area around the mosque.
"The glass of the shops was broken and it was very crowded and everyone started to run," said the woman, who declined to be named.
RESULTS
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EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
Company%20Profile
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Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
England Test squad
Joe Root (captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Dawid Malan, Jamie Porter, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes.
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
The biog
From: Upper Egypt
Age: 78
Family: a daughter in Egypt; a son in Dubai and his wife, Nabila
Favourite Abu Dhabi activity: walking near to Emirates Palace
Favourite building in Abu Dhabi: Emirates Palace
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