UN mission in Afghanistan slams attack on Kabul mosque

The UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Wednesday condemned an attack on a Kabul mosque on Tuesday that killed at least 18 civilians and injured more than 50 other people, calling it an atrocity, a UN spokesman told reporters here.

"An attacker wearing a uniform of the Afghan security forces opened fire on a congregation in a Shia mosque on the eve of Ashura, the Shia day of remembrance," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

"Among those killed were four women and two children," he said

The UN Mission stressed that international humanitarian law prohibits deliberate attacks against civilians and civilian property, including places of worship, and places a specific obligation on parties to enable religious personnel to carry out their work.

At least 14 people were killed and over 40 injured Tuesday night after gunmen attacked a shrine in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, where hundreds of mourners were observing Ashura rituals during holy Muslim's month of Muharram, reports said.

Ashura, the 10th day of Muharram, marks the death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of Prophet Muhammad, who was killed and buried in Karbala, Iraq in 680 AD.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the attack and instructed the authorities to provide best medical treatment for the injured, said the reports. Endit