Dozens of people have been killed in a suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in Kunduz, Afghanistan during Friday prayers, the Taliban has said.
This is the country's worst attack since the Taliban took over control in August.
Per AP News, the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K) claimed responsibility for the attack through its Telegram channels on Friday, October 8.
In a statement released on Telegram, the group said an ISIS-K suicide bomber "detonated an explosive vest amid a crowd" of Shia worshippers who had gathered inside the mosque.
Video footage showed bodies surrounded by debris inside the Gozar-e-Sayed Abad Mosque that is used by people from the minority Shia Muslim community, AP News reports.
Dost Mohammad Obaida, the deputy police chief for Kunduz province, said at least 100 people were killed or wounded in the attack, adding that the "majority of them have been killed".
"I assure our Shia brothers that the Taliban are prepared to ensure their safety," Obaida said, adding that an investigation was underway, per Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, the state-run Bakhtar News Agency said at least 46 people were killed, while more than 140 were wounded inside the mosque in the Khan Abad area of Kunduz city.
A deputy director for the province's health department said there were "around 50 dead and at least 50 wounded", the DPA news agency reported.
The blast blew out windows, charred the ceiling, and scattered debris and twisted metal across the floor.
Per AP News, rescuers carried one body out on a stretcher and another in a blanket. Bloodstains covered the front steps.
In its claim of responsibility, the region’s ISIL affiliate identified the bomber as a Uighur Muslim, saying the attack targeted both Shias and the Taliban for their purported willingness to expel Uighurs to meet demands from China.
A prominent Shiite cleric, Sayed Hussain Alimi Balkhi, called on the Taliban to provide security for the Shiites of Afghanistan.
"We expect the security forces of the government to provide security for the mosques since they collected the weapons that were provided for the security of the worship places," he said, per AP News.
It comes as Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul saw over 90 people lose their lives when an Islamic State (ISIS) suicide bomber blew up the city's airport in August.