A suicide bomber slaughtered more than 40 people, including five children, when he struck at a mosque in northern Afghanistan after Eid-ul-Azha prayers on Friday, officials said. It was the worst death toll in a single attack in Afghanistan since 80 died on December 6 last year in a suicide blast at a shrine in Kabul on the day of Ashura.
At least 50 others were wounded as the bomb - reportedly stuffed with ball-bearings - ripped through the crowd of worshippers in Maymana city in Faryab province. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but suicide bombings are a favourite weapon of Taliban trying to topple the Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.
The attacker was wearing a police uniform when he blew himself up at the entrance to the city's packed Eid Gah mosque, deputy provincial governor Abdul Satar Barez told AFP. "We have 42 dead - more than 20 are security forces and the rest of them are civilians, including five or six children," he said. "Around 51 are wounded, some 15 of them critically injured."
A member of parliament for Faryab, Naqeebullah Fayeq, who was present during the attack put the death toll at 47. Barez, like many other provincial officials, was also at the scene at the time of the bombing and described the horror of the blast in the midst of a religious celebration. "We had just finished Eid ul-Azha prayers and we were congratulating and hugging each other," Barez said.
"Suddenly a big explosion took place and the area was full of dust and smoke and body parts of police and civilians were all over the place. It was a very powerful explosion." One eyewitness, Sayed Moqeed, described the bomber as appearing to be in his early teens. "Suddenly I heard a very big explosion," he said. "Everywhere were pieces of bodies, hands and limbs. The suicide attacker was in police uniform, he looked to be around 14 or 15 years old."
Karzai strongly condemned the attack, calling the perpetrators "the enemies of Islam and humanity". "Those who take the happiness of Muslims during Eid days cannot be called human and Muslim," he said. The United States embassy said the "attack against innocent worshippers further demonstrates the insurgency's lack of respect for religion, faith and its disregard for the safety and security of the Afghan people".
The commander of Nato's International Security Assistance Force, General John Allen, condemned "this heinous act" and offered Isaf's resources to "help however we can". Last week, a huge roadside bomb ripped through a minibus carrying guests to a wedding party in the northern province of Balkh, near Faryab, killing 19 people and wounding 16 others.
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