BREAKING:Many Feared Dead, As Explosion Rocks Mosque During Friday Prayers

At least 16 people are dead and 32 injured after an explosion hit a Shia mosque during Friday prayers in the Afghan city of Kandahar.

The blast occurred at the Iman Bargah mosque. Pictures from the scene show shattered windows and bodies lying on the ground while others try to help

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The explosion’s cause is not yet clear but a suicide bombing is suspected.

A local doctor told the BBC that the injured worshippers were being taken to the Mirwais hospital.

BBC Afghanistan correspondent Secunder Kermani says that IS-K, a local branch of the Islamic State Group, was expected to say it was behind the attack.

Last Friday, a suicide attack on a Shia mosque during Friday prayers in the northern city of Kunduz killed at least 50 people. IS-K said it carried out the attack, which was the deadliest since US forces left at the end of August.

IS-K is violently opposed to the governing Taliban, has carried out several bombings recently

The Taliban took control of Afghanistan after foreign forces withdrew from the country at the end of August following a deal agreed with the US.

It came two decades after US forces had removed the militants from power in 2001.