Explosion targets Afghan mosque

An attack on Friday in eastern Afghanistan killed 62 people and wounded 36 others, provincial officials said. An explosion caused the roof of a mosque in the Nangarhar province to collapse. The Taliban and Islamic State are both active in the area, but no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the violence in a statement.

Is an end to the war in sight? The 18-year war is killing record numbers of Afghan civilians. More than 2,500 died in the first nine months of this year, according to a United Nations report released Thursday. U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met with the Taliban’s top negotiator in Pakistan earlier this month. But U.S. officials said he was only following up on negotiations from September and not restarting the U.S.-Taliban peace talks.

Dig deeper: Read Onize Ohikere’s report in World Tour about how terror attacks kept many Afghans from voting in the most recent elections.