April 2022 Kabul Mosque Bombing

On 29 April 2022, around 2:00 pm local time, a bombing struck the Khalifa Aga Gul Jan Mosque in western Kabul, Afghanistan, during a period of heavy attendance for prayers held during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. According to Afghanistan's interior ministry spokesman, Mohammad Nafi Takor, at least 10 people were killed. Sayed Fazil Agha, the mosque's leader, stated that more than 50 people died, while police chief spokesman Khalid Zadran said as many as 30 people were wounded. The discrepancy between official and mosque-leader casualty figures has not been reconciled in available reporting.

The worshippers targeted had gathered for Dhikr prayers, a devotional practice regarded by some radical Sunni groups as heretical (bidʻah). Agha and a number of witnesses described the attack as having been carried out by suicide bombers. The Islamic State, which along with its affiliates claimed responsibility for many of the attacks occurring in Afghanistan that April, did not claim this particular bombing, though it was identified as the main suspect.

This bombing occurred amid a broader series of attacks across Afghanistan in April 2022, during which at least 70 people were killed nationwide. Many of these attacks were claimed by the Islamic State and its affiliates and predominantly targeted Shi'a and Sufi civilians. This period was described as one of the deadliest waves of attacks in the country since the withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan, with the bombing in Kunduz cited as the deadliest of the related incidents.

In the aftermath, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the attack and stated that those responsible would face justice. The United Nations also condemned the bombing, describing it as "heinous" and "yet another painful blow to the people of Afghanistan who continue to be exposed to unremitting insecurity and violence." Mette Knudsen, the UN secretary-general's deputy special representative for Afghanistan, called the attack "despicable."

As of available reporting, no individual or group had formally claimed responsibility for the bombing, and no persons have been publicly named as charged or convicted in connection with the attack. The case remains classified as unresolved in terms of formal attribution and accountability.