30 killed in 2 Afghan mosque attacks

At least 30 people were killed and 45 others wounded after two separate suicide blasts ripped through mosques in Afghanistan's capital Kabul and in a western province respectively on Friday evening, Interior Ministry said.

In the Kabul attack, 20 worshippers were killed and 40 others wounded after a suicide bomber detonated his suicide jacket at about 5:40 p.m. local time in a Shiite mosque named Imam-e-Zaman in Dasht-e-Barchi locality, Police District 13 of the capital city, the ministry said in a statement.

In a similar attack at roughly the same time, 10 people were killed and five others wounded when a suicide bomber struck a mosque in Khoja Gan village, Dulina district, in western Ghor province, the statement said.

The statement noted that the number of casualties may rise as several injured people remained in critical condition.

No group has claimed responsibility yet for the attacks, but the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group has routinely claimed responsibility for such attacks.

The IS has attacked several Shiite mosques in Kabul and western Herat province since the beginning of this year.