Afghan men assist an injured woman to the Estiqlal Hospital after a suicide bomb explosion at a mosque on Monday.—AFP

KABUL: The militant Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a crowded Shia mosque on Monday that killed more than 30 people and wounded dozens in its third major attack on the minority community in the Afghan capital since July.

Officials said the attacker entered the Baqir-ul-Olum mosque shortly after midday as worshippers gathered for Chehlum of Imam Hussain.

A statement in Arabic from IS’s Amaq news agency said that one of its fighters had targeted the mosque.

Fraidoon Obaidi, chief of the Kabul police Criminal Investigation Department, said that at least 27 people were killed and 35 wounded, while the United Nations said at least 32 had been killed and more than 50 wounded, including many children. It described the attack as “an atrocity”.

This is third major attack on the minority community in the Afghan capital since July

“I saw people screaming and covered in blood,” one survivor told Afghanistan’s Ariana Television, adding that around 40 bodies and 80 wounded had been taken from the building before rescue services arrived at the scene.

Another witness said he had helped carry 30-35 bodies from the mosque.

IS, based mainly in the eastern state of Nangarhar on the border with Pakistan, has gradually expanded its reach since emerging in Afghanistan last year with a reputation for hardline fundamentalism and brutality.

Prior to Monday’s attack, it had claimed responsibility for two major attacks on Shia targets in Kabul, including a suicide bombing which killed more than 80 people at a demonstration by the mainly Shia Hazara community, the worst single attack on civilians since 2001.

Last month, it also claimed an attack in which 18 people were killed when a gunman in police uniform opened fire on worshippers gathered at a shrine in Kabul for Ashura.

In addition, at least 14 people were killed in an attack on a Shia mosque in northern Balkh province, for which no group has so far claimed responsibility.

Officials said the attack was an attempt to stoke sectarian tensions.

Any resurgence of sectarian or ethnic violence could threaten the fragile stability of the government headed by President Ashraf Ghani, who described the mosque blast as an attempt “to sow seeds of discord”.

Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said Afghanistan should not fall victim to “enemy plots that divide us by titles”.

“This attack targeted innocent civilians — including children — in a holy place. It is a war crime & an act against Islam & humanity,” he tweeted.

Thousands of civilians have been killed in Afghanistan in 15 years since the Taliban government was brought down in the US-led campaign of 2001.

In July, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan reported that 1,601 civilians had been killed in the first half of the year alone, a record since it began collating figures in 2009.

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2016