Casualties in Kandahar mosque blast

Cleric reportedly killed by suicide blast during Kandahar memorial service for Afghan president’s brother

Afghanistan – Kandahar map

Casualties are reported following a blast at a mosque in Kandahar during a memorial service for Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of Afghan president Hamid Karzai who was killed on Tuesday.Officials told the Reuters news agency that senior cleric, Hikmatullah Hikmat the head of the Provincial Ulema Council the  had been killed with three others, and said there were 13 other casualties.
Afghan Interior ministry spokesman Siddiq Siddiqi told AFP the explosion was caused by a suicide bombing.
President Karzai was not at the funeral in Kandahar city, his spokesman Waheed Omer said. “Our understanding at this point is that no one in the  delegation from Kabul was hurt,” he said.
He added that the bomber appeared to have concealed the explosives in his turban. Ambulances and vehicles used by senior officials rushed to the city’s Red Mosque after the blast, and security officials rushed to block off nearby roads.Ahmad Wali Karzai, the younger half-brother of President Hamid Karzai and one of the most powerful and controversial men in southern Afghanistan, was shot dead at his home on Tuesday by a senior family security official.

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