Iran's Parliament Speaker calls for strict punishment on Afghan mosque attack perpetrators

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf on Sunday condemned the “brutal crime of Takfiri terrorists” who carried out a bomb attack in the Afghanistan mosque, targeting the worshippers in the northeastern Afghan city of Kunduz. In an address to an open session of the parliament, the Iranian speaker stated that the ethnic and religious sedition “is a new security project by the enemies of the Afghan people.” Asking the Afghan authorities to ensure the security of the people as their duty, Qalibaf said, that the perpetrators of the heinous crime must be brought to justice, and stern measures must be instated to curb such tragic events in the future, Tasnim news agency reported. 

A bomb blast in a packed Shiite Said Abad mosque on October 8 in Afghanistan’s Kunduz claimed the lives of more than 100 people. At least 20 were injured. The explosive was detonated by the ISIS-K or Daesh-K operative during the ritualistic Friday prayer of the Shiites, whom the terror faction that adheres to Salafi jihadist doctrine labels as heretics. Blaming the elements of stoking religious and ethnic discord in Afghanistan, Iran’s Parliament Speaker told the assembly, “Ethnic and religious discord is the new security project of the Afghan nation’s enemies, which is being carried out by terrorist groups backed by the United States.” “Heads of the Muslim countries should wisely rely on unity among Muslim nations to hinder the activities of Takfiri groups and ensure unity and security across the region,” he added, extending his condolences to the Afghan families who lost loved ones. 

Iran's supreme leader Khamenei calls to punish those behind explosion

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei also called on the authorities to punish those that killed civilians during prayers at the mosque in the Khanabad Bandar area. Takfiri terrorist outfit claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement issued on its Amaq news channel. The blast was an attempt to create a conflict between the Shiites and Afghanistan’s Sunni majority population. “Authorities in the neighbouring and brotherly country of Afghanistan is seriously expected to punish the bloodthirsty perpetrators of this heinous crime and take necessary measures to prevent a recurrence of such tragedies,” Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei said. The terror group, that has targeted Shiites in Syria and Iraq in the past, operates in conflict with the Taliban, who vowed to eradicate Daesh from Kabul.