This is likely the work of the Islamic State. The Qur’an forbids a Muslim to kill another Muslim (4:92), so it has become relatively common for rival factions to pronounce takfir against each other, that is, declare the other group non-Muslim. Then they can lawfully be killed.
ISLAMABAD — A bomb blast ripped through a mosque in Afghanistan's northeastern Badakhshan province during a memorial ceremony Thursday for the Taliban provincial deputy governor who was assassinated in an Islamic State group attack this week.
The explosion in the provincial capital of Faizabad killed at least 15 worshipers and wounded more than 50 others, the Taliban-led Afghan interior ministry said on Twitter. Moazuddin Ahmadi, the head of the area information office, told VOA by phone that a former Taliban police chief of the nearby northern Baghlan province was also among the dead.
Witnesses reported that the powerful blast had inflicted many casualties on the worshipers inside the packed mosque, fearing a much higher death toll.
On Tuesday, Badakhshan's deputy governor, Molvi Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi, was being driven to work in Faizabad when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into his vehicle. The ensuing blast killed Ahmadi and his driver, while 10 people were injured.
The Islamic State group claimed the car bomb attack was carried out by its Afghan affiliate, Islamic State Khorasan. The mountainous Afghan province borders China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
Several top Taliban leaders have been killed in IS Khorasan-claimed attacks since the hardline group retook control of Afghanistan nearly two years ago.