At least 12 people were killed in an explosion inside a mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul during Friday prayers as worshippers gathered for the second day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, officials said.
Ferdous Faramarz, spokesman for the Kabul police, said the mosque's Imam was among the 12 dead and at least 15 other people were wounded. He did not identify the mosque where the blast took place.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Taliban insurgents have called a three-day ceasefire for the holiday, which marks the end of the Ramadan holy fasting month.
The blast came less than a week after an explosion at a school killed 80 people. The Taliban denounced that attack and no one has claimed responsibility for it.
US officials believe it may have been the work of a rival militant group such as the IS.
Violence, including attacks on civilians, have increased in Afghanistan, even as the United States has begun an operation to withdraw all its remaining troops over the next four months.
U.S. President Donald Trump fired General Timothy Haugh as director of the National Security Agency on Thursday, according to two officials familiar with the decision, and congressional Democrats denounced the removal of the nonpartisan official from a top security post.
Israel stepped up airstrikes on Syria, declaring the attacks a warning to the new rulers in Damascus as it accused their ally Turkey of trying to turn the country into a Turkish protectorate.
The Trump administration moved forward with the sale of more than 20,000 US-made assault rifles to Israel last month, according to a document seen by Reuters, pushing ahead with a sale that the administration of former president Joe Biden had delayed.
The Ministry of Justice said seven companies reportedly based in the UAE and sanctioned by the United States for ties to Sudan do not operate in the country.
Dubai Police announced on Friday it arrested 222 beggars during Ramadan and Eid, after a campaign was launched under the slogan “An Aware Society, Free of Begging,” in partnership with other government entities.