Huge explosion hits Kabul mosque, three dead

A blast ripped through a mosque packed with worshippers in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday, killing at least three people and wounding two dozen others, a hospital and officials said.

The explosion occurred as people were offering evening prayers at the mosque, located in a northwest district of Kabul.

Italian non-governmental organization (NGO) Emergency, which operates a hospital in Kabul, said it had received 27 victims of the blast, including three fatalities.

"We have recorded three fatalities," Emergency told AFP via email.

"Most of the patients we received following the explosion inside a mosque are suffering from shell and burn injuries."

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed there were dead and wounded in the blast, but did not specify how many.

"The murderers of civilians and perpetrators ... will soon be punished for their crimes," he said on Twitter.

Wednesday's blast comes nearly a week after a suicide attack killed a top Taliban cleric at his madrassa in Kabul.

On August 11, a suicide bomber blew himself up inside the madrassa of cleric Rahimullah Haqqani, who was killed along with his brother.

The attack was claimed by the Daesh.

Since the Taliban seized power a year ago, there has been significant fall in violence across the country.

• Asia