At least 18 killed in a mosque bombing in Afghanistan

A suicide bombing near a mosque in Herat province in Afghanistan has left at least 18 people dead, including Mujibur Rahman Ansari, an Islamic cleric close to the Taliban.

The attack took place near the Guzarga mosque after the terrorist detonated explosives on his body, Afghan provincial police spokesman Shah Mohmood Rasuli told EFE.

"Unfortunately, popular religious leader Mujibur Rahman Ansari and five of his friends were killed in a suicide attack on their way to the mosque," he said moments after the attack. 

Ansari was close to the repressive Taliban government. His radical view of Islam and opposition to any form of government other than the current one, punishing opponents with "beheading", made him an important figure in the propagation of Taliban ideology.

This closeness was demonstrated by the Taliban government's chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, after taking to social media to condemn the attack and lament what he called the "martyrdom" of Ansari, whom he described as a "brave" scholar of Islam who died "in a cowardly attack perpetrated by the enemies of religion".

For the moment, no terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack, unlike what sometimes happens with Daesh, the enemy of the Taliban, which is quick to make its authorship public.

This attack comes in the same week in which the Taliban celebrated the first anniversary of the withdrawal of US troops after the fall of Kabul. In this context, in August, Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack on a madrassa in which the Taliban killed Rahimullah Haqqani, who had openly defended the right of women to have access to education and work, contrary to the position of the Taliban government. Haqqani had also become known for his fervent opposition to Daesh.

The attack on Haqqani was not the first attack by Daesh. In earlier attempts, the jihadist group had tried to kill him in an attack in Pakistan, where he had settled during the US presence in Afghanistan.

In the same month, Afghanistan also suffered another attack on one of the mosques located north of Kabul, killing 33 people and injuring around 20 others.