During Friday prayers
\nMONITORING DESK
\nKABUL
\nA suicide bomber slipped undetected into a mosque in eastern Afghanistan on Friday killing at least 35 people and wounding at least 23, a provincial government official said.
\nThe attacker blew himself up as worshippers gathered in the mosque for weekly prayers on Friday, the Muslim holy day, said Abdullah Asrat, spokesman for the governor of Paktia province.
\nThe bomber slipped undetected through a side door, he said.
\nProvincial police chief General Raz Mohammad Mandozai also confirmed the presence of two suicide bombers, adding that the assailants were wearing burqas to hide their weapons and explosives.
\nOnce inside the mosque, the two attackers also opened fire on the crowd before detonating their bombs.
\nGardez public health department chief Wilayat Khan Ahmadzai said that more than 70 people in total had been killed and wounded, with many rushed to the city\u2019s civilian hospital.
\nSyed Sufi Gardezi, the senior cleric in the city of Gardez, put the death toll at 30. He described a scene of panic and distress outside the Imam-e-Zaman mosque as news of the explosion spread and relatives gathered.
\nGardezi said the wounded were screaming for help and body parts of the dead were scattered throughout the single story mosque. The dead were all men and boys, he said.
\nDr Mohammad Wali Roshan, a physician at a local hospital, said some of the relatives, armed with sticks and guns, were furious at the lack of security and began beating even medical personnel who arrived to help the wounded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
During Friday prayers MONITORING DESK KABUL A suicide bomber slipped undetected into a mosque in eastern Afghanistan on Friday killing at least 35 people and wounding at least 23, a provincial government official said. The attacker blew himself up as worshippers gathered in the mosque for weekly prayers on Friday, the Muslim holy day, said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29353,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-top-news"],"yoast_head":"\n