At least 100 people have been killed in a suicide bombing at Kunduz mosque in Afghanistan

At least 100 people have been killed in a suicide bombing at Kunduz mosque in Afghanistan

A Taliban police official says at least 50 people have been killed and more than a dozen injured in a mosque bombing targeting Shiite mosque in northern Afghanistan.

The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a crowd of mourners, but did not claim responsibility for the blast.

The extremist Islamic State group, the Taliban's bitter rivals, has repeatedly targeted Shiites in Sunni-majority Afghanistan for inciting sectarian violence.

A medical source at the Kunduz provincial hospital said 35 people had died and more than 50 had been injured, while a worker at the Non-Border Doctors (MSF) hospital said 15 people had died and many more had been injured.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid had earlier said an unknown number of people had been killed and wounded in a "blast at our Shiite mosque" in Kunduz.

Residents of Kunduz, the capital of a province of the same name, bombed a Shia mosque during Friday prayers at the AFP, the most important week of the week for Muslims.

An international aid worker at the MSF hospital in the city told AFP there were fears the death toll could rise further.

"Hundreds of people gather at the main gate of the hospital and cry for their relatives but the armed Taliban are trying to block the crowds if another explosion is planned," he said.

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