KABUL, Afghanistan — A popular Afghan religious scholar who had voiced support for Afghanistan’s military and police was killed on Friday in a bombing at a mosque in Kabul, the latest among dozens of Islamic scholars targeted for death during the country’s long war.

The scholar, Samiullah Rayhan, was one of two people killed when an explosion ripped through Al-Taqwa mosque during Friday Prayer. Sixteen people were wounded, said Nasrat Rahimi, a spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs. Mr. Rahimi said the Taliban had carried out the attack.

A spokesman for the militant group denied involvement, but the attack mirrored one of the Taliban’s enduring strategies. For years, the group has targeted those with religious influence in order to exert its power far from the battlefield and mute those who would question its legitimacy.

Mr. Rayhan, 36, was an imam at Al-Taqwa mosque, a parliamentary adviser and the host of a daily religious television show. He was outspoken about supporting the families of fallen Afghan soldiers and scorned the Taliban’s strategy of suicide bombings.