Mosque bombing in Afghanistan kills 21

A suicide bomber walked into evening prayer at a mosque in Kabul on Wednesday night and blew himself up, an eyewitness said. Among the dead was a prominent Taliban cleric, Mullah Amir Mohammad Kabuli. The Surgical Center for War Victims in Kabul said it admitted 27 people, including five children. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the perpetrators of the crime would be brought to justice. As of yet, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan has carried out several large urban attacks in the last few months.

Are explosions like this frequent? The United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan said in a tweet that this is only the latest in a series of explosions in recent weeks that have claimed more than 250 lives. The Surgical Center for War Victims said this was the sixth “mass casualty incident” it has received patients from in August alone, and the 16th incident this year.

Dig deeper: Read Sharon Dierberger’s report in WORLD magazine about the challenges confronting U.S. allies in Afghanistan a year after the United States’ military withdrawal.