Powerful explosion outside mosque in Afghan capital kills civilians

At least two civilians have been killed and several others injured as a bomb struck the entrance of a mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul. 

A Taliban official said Sunday that the bomb targeted the Eidgah Mosque in Kabul where a memorial service was being held for the mother of Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

"Our initial information shows two civilians were killed and three wounded in the blast," a spokesman from the interior ministry, Qari Sayed Khosti, said.

Local residents and witnesses said they heard the sound of an explosion near the mosque followed by gun firing.

Ambulances carrying the wounded were seen rushing towards Kabul's Emergency. Civilians in bloodied clothing were seen arriving at the nearby Kabul Emergency Hospital.

No individual or group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

However, since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in mid-August, attacks by Daesh terrorists against them have increased, raising the possibility of a wider conflict between the two sides. 

The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group maintains a strong presence in the eastern province of Nangarhar and considers the Taliban an enemy. It has claimed several attacks against them, including several killings in the provincial capital of Jalalabad.

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Taliban hold victory rally outside Kabul 

The attack came as Taliban supporters and senior figures held their first mass rally outside Kabul seven weeks after they took over the capital.

The Sunday's official victory gathering in Kohdaman township in the hilly outskirts of the capital was attended by 1,500 Taliban supporters.

Leading Taliban officials and commanders addressed an audience sat in rows of chairs under awnings, celebrating victory over the United States.

"This is the day we waited for," said Khalil Haqqani, the new minister for refugees.

Khalil is a prominent leader of the Haqqani militant network founded by his brother Jalaluddin.

"We have achieved our goal, but it requires protection," he said, boasting that the country has a "bright future" despite being shunned by international donors.

"My advice to the world is that they leave Afghanistan to Afghanistan."

A speaker who was introduced as Rahmatullah said the Taliban's victory was "the result of those youths who stood in queues to register for suicide attacks."

As people arrived, music honoring the Taliban's victories echoed around the site.

"America is defeated, impossible, impossible -- but possible!" one song said.

The government of Afghanistan collapsed on August 15 and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country in the face of lightning advances of the Taliban, which followed US President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw the American troops in a chaotic pullout.

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On September 7, the Taliban announced the formation of a caretaker government in Afghanistan, where hunger and poverty have significantly increased during the past month.

While the Taliban are trying to burnish the legitimacy of their newly-formed government in the eyes of the global community, no country has yet recognized it.

More than a quarter of Afghanistan's population is made up of ethnic Tajiks, but Taliban members predominantly belong to the biggest ethnic group, Pashtuns.

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Former US president Donald Trump brokered a peace deal with the Taliban in Qatar in 2020, under which Washington was obliged to pull out all of its forces from Afghanistan by the end of May 2021.

President Biden, however, missed the deadline, until all US military forces were pulled out from Afghanistan on August 31; two weeks after the country fell to the Taliban.

The Taliban first ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 until the US-led NATO invaded the country and toppled its government in 2001 on the pretext of fighting terrorism and eliminating the al-Qaeda Takfiri terrorist group following the September 11 attacks in the US.

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