On 25th August, 2017, an attack at the Shiite Imam Zaman mosque in North Kabul, Afghanistan, killed at least 28 worshippers and injured more than 50.

The Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack that was perpetrated by four terrorists. Reports on the assault dynamics are not yet clear. The assault started early in the afternoon, a time during which the mosque was crowded with people attending the Friday prayers, and lasted nearly four hours. Witnesses report that two assailants blew themselves up: one at the entrance of the mosque, and the other in the women's section on the second floor. The remaining two stormed the mosque and continued to kill by shooting and stabbing people, including women and children, before being killed by the police.

Shiite worshippers in Afghanistan feel more unsafe now as the attack in Kabul follows the suicide attack at the Shiite mosque in Herat, which killed more than 30 people, and the increasing threat of ISIS fighters targeting Shiite places of worship. During 2017, it is believed that more than six attacks were targeted at Shiites and resulted in more than 80 deaths. The Afghan government has been accused of not being able to provide adequate security.

Hajji Abdul Razaq Sakha, one of the elders of the Imam Zaman mosque, said: “This is our place of prayers; this is our fortress. They can kill us, but we won’t leave”.

To know more, read:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/08/gunmen-attack-shia-imam-zaman-mosque-kabul-170825095421445.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/26/world/asia/afghanistan-kabul-mosque-terrorist-attack-isis-funerals.html?mcubz=3
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/25/asia/kabul-bomb-blast-mosque/index.html