KUNDUZ (TOLOnews): The suicide attack that targeted worshipers in the capital city of northern Kunduz province sparked reactions at national and international levels.
On Friday afternoon, a suicide bomber attacked a mosque where dozens of people had gathered for Friday prayers. The responsibility of the attack was claimed by Daesh.
According to local officials, the attack left over 50 people dead and more than 150 others were wounded, all of them civilians.
The UN, European Union, United States and several other world countries and organizations strongly reacted to the attack and called it in contrast with human rights values.
UN Secretary General strongly condemned the “horrific” attack.
“Attacks that deliberately target civilians exercising the right to freely practice their religion are violations of fundamental human rights and international humanitarian law”, Secretary-General, António Guterres quoted in a statement released by his Spokesperson. “The perpetrators must be brought to justice.”
“The European Union mourns with the families of the victims and wishes those injured a full and speedy recovery,” the European Union said in a statement. “The perpetrators of this despicable crime, for which the terrorist group ‘ISIS-Khorasan’ claimed responsibility, must be brought to justice.
The human rights of all Afghans, including the right to life and the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, have to be protected and respected.”
The statement termed the continued “terrorist attacks” as a serious obstacle to a stable and peaceful Afghanistan.
The US department of state expressed its condolences to the victims and their families, saying that Afghans deserve a “future free of terror.”
“The United States condemns in the strongest terms today’s attack on worshippers at Friday prayers in Kunduz, Afghanistan,” the statement added.
Condemning the attack, spokesman for the ministry of foreign affairs of Iran late Friday, Saeed Khatibzadeh shared his people’s condolences with the families and prayed for the recovery of the injured.
The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) called the attack against human rights values, saying it was a continued sting of deliberately targeting the Hazara and Shia community in Afghanistan.
Chairman of the high council for national reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah and former president Hamid Karzai also condemned the attack and expressed their condolences with the victims’ families.