At least five people died in an attack on a Shiite mosque in the Afghan capital of Kabul, police and hospital sources said Friday.
It’s the latest attack in the country, where Afghan and coalition forces have been squaring off for years with Islamic militants, including the Taliban and ISIS — both Sunni movements.
Sectarian tensions have raged for some time between members of the Sunni and Shiite denominations of Islam. But there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Five others were wounded and have been taken to hospitals, according to Saleem Rasooli, director of Kabul Hospitals.
This comes a day after Taliban militants stormed a base in Kandahar, in the south, and killed dozens of Afghan troops, the country’s Defense Ministry said.
The ministry said 43 of the base’s 60 troops died in the attack. A further nine were injured, six are missing and two were not harmed. Ten attackers were killed in the assault.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack, according to a statement from the group’s spokesman, Qhari Yosouf Ahmadi.
Taliban raids on Afghan military installations aren’t uncommon. In April, a deadly raid on a northern army base left as many as 140 feared dead. That attack was revenge for the deaths of two Taliban officials in the region, a spokesman for the group told CNN.
On Tuesday, at least 41 people were killed and scores were injured in an attack on police headquarters in the Paktia provincial capital of Gardez, located in eastern Afghanistan.
Two car bombs exploded at the gate of the police headquarters, Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said.
Afterward, five attackers entered the building and a five-hour gunfight ensued.