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A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a mosque in northern Afghanistan on Friday, killing 35 people and wounding at least 70, government and hospital officials said.
A suicide bomber has attacked holiday worshippers outside a mosque in northern Afghanistan, killing 40 people and injuring another 50, including a senior police officer.
The attack in Maymana, capital of the northern Faryab province, happened as people gathered to celebrate the Eid al-Adha holiday, said Jawid Didar, a spokesman for the governor's office.
The blast in Maimana, capital of Faryab province, was the deadliest in the country for several months, and a reminder of insurgents' ability to strike far beyond their southern heartland and target officials.
Senior officials including the governor and the police chief were inside the building when the bomber set off his explosives outside, where a large crowd had gathered, Didar said. The officials were not hurt, but the casualties included police officers and soldiers, he said.
The bomber struck as a crowd streamed out of morning prayers for the Eid al-Adha holiday. Security was tight because the worshippers included the provincial governor, but the attacker waited for his victims to leave the building. Many police, soldiers and intelligence officials were among the dead and injured.
"There was blood and dead bodies everywhere," said Khaled, a doctor who was in the mosque at the time of the blast. "It was a massacre."
"He blew himself up on the road just outside," said Ahmad Jawed Didar, spokesman for the governor of Faryab. Five of the dead were children, and the provincial police chief was wounded, he said. The governor was unharmed.
It appeared to have been the deadliest suicide attack in recent months. On 4 September 25 civilians were killed and more than 35 wounded in Nanghar province, and on 1 September 12 people were killed and 47 wounded in a suicide attack in Wardak province.
"It was a massacre," said Khaled, a doctor who was at the mosque and narrowly escaped the blast. "There was blood and dead bodies everywhere," he told the Associated Press.
The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, urged Taliban insurgents "to stop killing other Afghans" in his Eid message to the nation. He called on the insurgents to "stop the destruction of our mosques, hospitals and schools".
Fifteen of the dead and just over half the wounded were civilians, a police spokesman, Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai, told the Guardian. The rest were from the Afghan security forces.
The United Nations says Taliban attacks account for the vast majority of civilian casualties in the 11-year war. The insurgents routinely deny that they are responsible for attacks on civilians, saying they target only foreign troops or members of the Afghan security forces.
The attack came as the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, called on the Taliban to "stop killing other Afghans". "Stop the destruction of our mosques, hospitals and schools," he said in an Eid message to the nation.
On Wednesday the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, urged his fighters to "pay full attention to the prevention of civilian casualties", saying the enemy was trying to blame them on the insurgents.
Afghanistan was already on heightened alert for the holiday, with extra checks on vehicles and patrols by the Afghan army. The Taliban would not claim or deny the Faryab bomb. "This issue is under investigation, and I am in touch with the local Taliban," said a spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi.
On Friday the Taliban claimed responsibility for killing two US service members in southern Uruzgan province, in what may have been the latest insider attack against western troops. In an emailed statement, the Taliban spokesman Jusuf Ahmadi said a member of the Afghan security forces had shot the two men the day before and then escaped to join the insurgents.
This week the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, urged his fighters to "pay full attention to the prevention of civilian casualties", saying the enemy was trying to blame them on the insurgents.
A spate of insider attacks has undermined trust between international troops and Afghan army and police, further weakened public support for the war in Nato countries and increased calls for earlier withdrawals.
In July a suicide attacker killed a powerful anti-Taliban leader, security commanders and more than a dozen other guests at a crowded family wedding in neighbouring Samangan province. It was one of the bloodiest attacks on Afghan military and political leaders in the decade-long war.
Major Lori Hodge, a spokeswoman for US forces in Afghanistan, said on Thursday that authorities were trying to determine whether the latest attacker was a member of the Afghan security forces or an insurgent who donned a government uniform.
It was the second suspected insider attack in two days. On Wednesday two British troops and an Afghan police officer were shot dead in Helmand province.
Before Thursday's assault, 53 foreigners attached to the US-led coalition had been killed in attacks by Afghan soldiers or police this year.
