Afghanistan mosque bombing

This item appears on page 21 of the December 2019 issue.

A bomb was detonated in a mosque in eastern Afghanistan on Oct. 18. Immediately after the blast, the roof caved in, causing further casualties. The incident killed at least 62 people and injured 36. No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing. Islamist militant groups Daesh (ISIL) and the Taliban are both active in the area.

The bombing occurred after the United Nations released a statement saying that at least 1,174 civilians had been killed in Afghanistan from July through September 2019, the highest quarterly number since the UN began keeping records in 2009.