Afghan policemen arrive near the mosque, where the suicide blast took place, in Kabul.

At least 27 people were killed and 35 injured following a suicide attack at a Shia mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul, with a rise in casualties feared, a government spokesman said on Monday.

“Until now, 17 wounded and eight dead bodies have been carried to hospitals by the Kabul ambulance. The number of casualties could be bigger,” said Mohmmad Ismail Kawusi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health. </s> A suicide bomber has killed at least 28 people at a Shia Muslim mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul, police say.

At least 35 more people were wounded in the blast at the Baqir ul Olum mosque in the west of the city.

IMAGE: An injured boy is transported to a hospital after a suicide attack in Kabul. Photograph: Mohammad Ismail/Reuters

The attack came as worshippers gathered for a religious ceremony.

It is not yet clear who was behind the blast but Afghanistan’s Shia have faced a series of sectarian attacks in recent months claimed by the Islamic State Sunni Muslim militant group.

Monday’s bombing took place during a service to commemorate the death of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson and Shia martyr.

Witness Ali Jan said: “I was in the mosque, the people were offering prayers.

“Suddenly I heard a bang and windows broke. I had no idea what had happened. I rushed out screaming.”

IMAGE: Relatives of victims mourn at a hospital after a suicide attack in Kabul. Photograph: Mohammad Ismail/Reuters

Bloody sectarian rivalry between Sunni and Shia Muslims has been relatively rare in Afghanistan, which is a majority Sunni country.

Government chief executive Abdullah Abdullah condemned the attack as a sign of barbarism but said Afghanistan should not fall victim to “enemy plots that divide us by titles”.

“This attack targeted innocent civilians -- including children -- in a holy place. It is a war crime and an act against Islam and humanity,” he said in a message on his Twitter account.

IMAGE: fghan security forces keep watch in front of a mosque where an explosion happened in Kabul. Photograph: Omar Sobhani/Reuters

An attack in July, claimed by Daesh, killed 80 people at a Shia protest march in Kabul.

More than 100 people were injured and at least 25 killed in twin Islamic State-claimed blasts using ambulances in Samarra and Tikrit in Iraq. </s> At least one person was killed and seven others wounded in an explosion outside a Shia mosque in the western Afghan city of Herat, an official told Al Jazeera.

Two suicide bombers attempted to enter the Nabi Akram mosque in Police District 7 on Sunday, but were pushed back by security guards, the official said.

"One was killed in firing and the other triggered his explosives causing casualties," he added.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement sent to media, without providing evidence for the claim.

The area of the explosion has been cordoned off by police.

Shia Muslims are a persecuted minority in Afghanistan and have been threatened by the affiliate of the ISIL group that operates in the country's east.

The attack comes days after an ISIL bomber targeted a group of Shia marking the Persian new year in kabul, killing at least 30 people. </s> INTERNATIONAL NEWS - A suicide bomber has killed at least 27 people in a suicide attack inside a Shia Muslim mosque in the Afghan capital, Kabul, police say.

Another 35 were wounded in the blast at the Baqir ul Olum mosque.

The attacker was on foot and blew himself up among crowds inside the building, officials said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Afghanistan has largely been spared levels of sectarian violence seen by Pakistan and Iraq.

But Shia, who make up about 15% of the population in Afghanistan, have been attacked several times in recent months.

At least 14 people died in a gun attack on a shrine in Kabul in October. </s> Taliban claim responsibility for attack that killed at least 24 people in a western Kabul neighbourhood.

At least 24 people have been killed and more than 40 wounded after a suicide car bomb targeted Afghanistan's capital Kabul, officials have said.

The target of Monday's attack was a bus carrying staff of the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, intelligence officials said.

Najib Danish, an acting Interior Ministry spokesman added that the casualty toll could rise.

Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement.

The attack came just before 7am local time (02:30 GMT) and took place close to the house of the deputy government Chief Executive Mohammad Mohaqi.

The Hazaras are one of Afghanistan's largest ethnic minorities, accounting for up to 20 percent of Afghanistan's 30 million inhabitants.

Hazara Shia Muslims are often the target of sectarian violence in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The latest suicide bombing adds to the unrelenting violence in Afghanistan, where at least 1,662 civilians were killed in the first half of the year.

It came two weeks after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group claimed an attack on a mosque in the capital that killed at least four people.

Kabul has accounted for at least 20 percent of all civilian casualties this year, including at least 150 people killed in a massive truck bomb attack at the end of May, according to UN figures. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan official confirmed that at least five people were killed when a suicide bomber on foot carried out an attack in the capital, Kabul.

Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said three others were wounded in Wednesday’s blast in central Kabul.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack via the IS-run Amaq news agency.

The attack took place near the country’s Defense Ministry compound, as well as a city police station.

Last month around 50 people were killed after militants stormed a military hospital in Kabul; that attack was also claimed by the Islamic State group. </s> KABUL, Nov 20 — At least 40 people were killed in an explosion at a meeting of top clerics in Kabul today, officials said, in one of the deadliest attacks to strike the Afghan capital in months.

Another 60 people were wounded in the blast, health ministry spokesman Wahid Majroh said, which targeted an Ulema Council gathering at a wedding hall to mark the Prophet Mohammad’s birthday.

“Initial information suggests it was caused by a suicide bomber,” interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said.

He said the number of dead and wounded was “more than 50” so far.

A manager of Uranus Wedding Palace, which also hosts political and religious functions, told AFP a suicide bomber blew himself up in the middle of the gathering.

“There are a lot of casualties—I myself have counted 30 casualties,” he told AFP on the condition of anonymity. — AFP </s> TEHRAN, Aug. 19 (MNA) – A bomb attack by ISIL targeting a wedding in the Afghan capital of Kabul left at least 63 people dead and more than 180 others injured on Saturday. </s> The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group claimed responsibility behind the deadly suicide attack on a mosque in Kabul city.

The group issued a statement in Arabic via its media wing ‘Amaq’ news agency and claimed that the attack was carried out by its suicide bomber on a Shi’ite mosque in the city.

The Taliban militants group earlier rejected that the group is involved in the attack.

At least 32 people were killed and 85 others were wounded after the suicide bomber detonated his explosives among the worshipers in Baqir-ul-Olum mosque in west of Kabul city this afternoon.

The officials in public health ministry confirmed that 85 people wounded in the attack were taken to hospitals for treatment.

This is the second deadly attack the ISIS terrorist group is claiming responsibility for within the past one and half month.

At least 18 people were killed and 36 others were wounded after a group of gunmen belonging to ISIS terrorist group stormed into Sakhi shrine in Kabul city last month.

The attack on Sakhi shrine was carried out as hundreds of mourners had gathered in the area to observe the Ashura day.

The group earlier claimed the attack on a major demonstration in Kabul that left at least 85 rally participants dead and scores of others wounded.

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At least 32 people are killed and another 80 injured in a suicide bombing at a Kabul Shia mosque. ISIL claims responsibility.