Gunman kills at least six in attack on mosque in Afghanistan’s Herat
A gunman stormed a mosque in western Afghanistan and killed six people, a government spokesperson says.
Ministry of Interior Affairs spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said “an unknown armed person shot at civilian worshippers in a mosque” at about 9pm (19:30 GMT +3) on Monday in Andisheh town of Guzara district in Herat province.
“Six civilians were killed and one civilian was injured,” he wrote on social media platform X early on Tuesday morning.
The state-run Bakhtar News Agency gave the same death toll for the attack. Citing local sources, local media channel Tolo reported the mosque belonged to Afghanistan’s minority Shia community.
Mosques imam was also killed in the attack, local media reports said. The Iranian embassy in Kabul condemned the attack.
While no group has yet claimed the attack, the regional chapter of ISIS is the largest security threat in Afghanistan and has frequently targeted Shia communities.
The Taliban government has pledged to protect religious and ethnic minorities since returning to power in August 2021, but rights monitors say they have done little to make good on that promise.
