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Several persons feared dead, as explosion destroys another Shiite mosque in Aghanistan

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A second explosion in as many weeks destroyed a Shiite mosque in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar during Friday prayers, causing heavy casualties, according to Reuters.

This was confirmed by a spokesman of the Taliban government’s interior ministry, Qari Saeed Khosti.

According to Khosti, authorities were collecting details of the explosion, which took place days after a suicide bomb attack claimed by the Islamic State group on a Shi’ite mosque in the northern city of Kunduz that killed scores of people.

The blast was reported by Nematullah Wafa, a former member of the provincial council, to have occurred at the Imam Bargah mosque and caused heavy casualties.

However, there was no immediate confirmation of the number of dead and wounded.

READ ALSO: Shiite Mosque in Afghanistan damaged in deadly explosion, over 100 worshippers feared dead

There was also no immediate claim of responsibility.

The blast, coming so soon after the Kunduz attack underlined the increasingly uncertain security in Afghanistan as the Islamic State group has stepped up operations following the Taliban victory over the Western-backed government in Kabul in August.

The Taliban said it had sent special forces members to the site to investigate.

Footage from inside the mosque showed several bloodied bodies on the ground, some covered in sheets, while onlookers wailed.

The extremist Islamic State group views followers of the Shiite sect of Islam as heretics and often targets their places of worship.

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