KUNDUZ: Mourners from Afghanistan’s minority Shiite community buried their dead Saturday after a suicide attack on a mosque killed more than 60 people, marking the bloodiest assault since US forces left the country in August.
A gravedigger in the Shiite cemetery overlooking the northern city of Kunduz told AFP they had handled 62 bodies, and local reports suggested the final toll could be up to 100.
Scores more victims were also wounded in Friday’s blast, which was claimed by the Islamic State group and appeared designed to further destabilise Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban takeover.
IS-K said the attack was carried out by a Uyghur suicide bomber who had “detonated an explosive vest amid a crowd” of Shiite worshippers.
The attack happened during Friday prayers — the most important of the week for Muslims — and residents of the city told AFP that hundreds of worshippers were inside.
In a heart-wrenching scene, relatives gathered around the newly-dug graves in Kunduz wailed inconsolably over their loved ones.
“We are really hurt by what happened,” Zemarai Mubarak Zada, 42, told AFP as he mourned his 17-year-old nephew, who he said had wanted to follow in his footsteps and become a doctor.
“He wanted to get married. He wanted to go to university,” he said.

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