Afghanistan: Shooting attack on mosque kills 6

Kabul: A gunman stormed a mosque in western Afghanistan as worshippers were praying, killing six people and injuring another.

The incident took place in the western Herat province's Guzara district on Monday evening. The mosque was targeted due to serving the minority Shiite community, local residents and media reported.

Taliban Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said that "an unknown armed person shot at civilian worshippers in a mosque."

"Six civilians were martyred and one civilian was injured," he wrote on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, early Tuesday morning.

Locals told the French AFP news agency that the shooting was carried out by three gunmen rather than one. Those killed included the imam of the mosque and a three-year-old child, they added.

"I strongly condemn the attack on the Imam Zaman Mosque," former Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on X. "I consider this terrorist act to be against all religious and human standards."

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The "Islamic State" group's regional affiliate is a major Taliban rival and has recently claimed several attacks on schools, hospitals, mosques and Shiite areas throughout the country.