The brother of the leader of the Afghan Taliban was among at least four people killed in a bomb blast at a mosque in Kuchlak outskirt of Quetta on Friday, two Taliban sources told Reuters, an attack that could affect efforts to end the Afghan war. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast which took place as the Taliban and the United States are in the final stages of talks on an agreement that would see America withdraw its troops from neighbouring Afghanistan.
Police said more than 20 people were wounded and the death toll could rise. The imam of the mosque, 25 kilometres (15 miles) from Quetta, was among those killed, police said. Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada was not in the mosque when the bomb went off but his younger brother, Hafiz Ahmadullah, was among those killed.
"We lost younger brother of Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada in a bomb blast," said a senior member of the Taliban who declined to be identified. Akhundzada's son was wounded, one of the sources said. Police did not confirm the identity of any of the victims. "It was a timed device planted under the wooden chair of the prayer leader," said Abdul Razzaq Cheema, chief of police in Quetta.
One of the sources, who visited the site after the blast, said security at the mosque was always very tight. There was no immediate comment from the Afghan government. But Friday's blast will raise concerns about prospects for peace. The Taliban, in exchange for a US troop withdrawal, are expected to guarantee that Afghanistan will not be used for international terrorism.-Reuters
NNI adds: At least five persons were killed in a deadly blast in Quetta's Kuchlak area during Friday prayers in a mosque attached with a religious seminary. Rescue sources said the explosion took place in a seminary of Kuchlak town of Quetta. Five people were reported to be dead and around 15 sustained injuries in the blast.
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