IED event in Balkh, Mazar-e-Sharif area, Afghanistan on Thu 21st April 2022

Afghanistan: 'Blood and fear everywhere' after deadly IS blast Dozens of people have been killed or injured in four explosions across Afghanistan on Thursday, local officials and journalists have said. The first explosion tore through a Shia Muslim mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif. At least 31 people were killed, and 87 were wounded, the BBC has been told. The Islamic State group (IS) admitted carrying out the attack. The Taliban say they have defeated the IS but the group remains a serious security challenge to Afghanistan's new rulers. The attack on the Mazar-i-Sharif mosque was carried out using a remotely detonated booby-trapped bag when the building was packed with worshippers, the Sunni Muslim IS jihadists said. The group called the attack part of an ongoing global campaign to "avenge" the deaths of its former leader and spokesman. Ahmad Zia Zindani, spokesman for the provincial public health department, told AFP news agency that "blood and fear are everywhere," and that "people were screaming" while seeking news of their relatives at the local hospital. IS has also claimed another of Thursday's attacks - a blast which saw a vehicle blown up near a police station in Kunduz, leaving four dead and 18 injured. The BBC has also received reports of a Taliban vehicle being hit by a roadside mine in eastern Nangarhar province, killing four Taliban members and wounding a fifth.