Jordan condemns ‘cowardly’ attack on Afghan mosque

AMMAN — Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Friday condemned the terrorist attack that targeted a mosque in Afghanistan, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

In a tweet on his official Twitter account, Safadi said: "We utterly condemn the cowardly terrorist attack that targeted a mosque in Afghanistan. May God have mercy on the victims’ souls and grant the injured a speedy recovery," Petra reported, adding that he offered his condolences to the Afghan people. 

At least 62 people were killed by a blast inside an Afghan mosque during Friday prayer, according to officials, a day after the UN said violence in the country had reached "unacceptable" levels, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported on Friday.

The attack — the year's second most deadly to date — took place in the eastern province of Nangarhar and wounded at least 33 people, the provincial governor's spokesperson, Attaullah Khogyani, told AFP.

The blast was carried out with "explosives that were placed inside the mosque", Khogyani said, though other sources — including the Taliban — said the building may have been hit by a mortar.

A spokesperson for the Taliban said the group has "condemned this atrocity in the strongest terms" and labelled it a "major crime".

The Daesh extremist group has also been active in Nangarhar, AFP reported, adding that witnesses said the roof of the mosque had fallen through after a "loud" explosion, the nature of which was not immediately clear.

About 350 worshippers were inside at the time, local resident Omar Ghorzang told AFP.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, through a spokesman, said children were among the injured.

"Those responsible for this attack must be held accountable," the spokesman said, according to AFP.