On 21 April 2022, a powerful bomb rocked the Shia Seh Dokan mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh Province, Afghanistan, killing at least 31 people and injuring more than 87 others. The Islamic State â Khorasan Province claimed responsibility via Telegram.
Worshippers were offering the Zuhr prayer inside the mosque when the bomb exploded. Authorities counted 31 dead and at least 87 injured, six of whom were wounded critically.
The bombing was part of a series of attacks on the same day, including two explosions targeting Taliban officers in Kunduz and Khogyani District and a bombing that injured two Shia children in Kabul.
The Islamic State said the attack on the Mazar-e-Sharif mosque was carried out using a remote-controlled booby-trapped bag when the building was packed with worshipers. The group called the attack part of its ongoing global campaign to "avenge" the deaths of its former leader and spokesman.
Afghanistan had seen a sharp rise in bombings since the Taliban came to power. Earlier, a bomb blast rocked a high school in the Shiite-populated area of Dasht-e-Barchi, several kilometers from Kabul.