At least 58 people on Tuesday were killed in two bomb attacks apparently designed to target Shi'ite Muslims in the Afghan cities of Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif, say media reports.
One bomb at a shrine in Kabul killed 54 people, reported the BBC. The other bomb killed four at a Shi'ite shrine in Mazar-i-Sharif, located in the northern portion of the country.
Tuesday marked the Shi'ite Muslim religious holiday of Ashura, when many adherents gather at shrines, mosques, and public places.
The attacks were condemned by the head of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force.
“An attack against Ashura pilgrims on one of the holiest of days in the Islamic calendar is an attack against Islam itself, and we denounce and condemn these atrocities in the strongest of terms,” said Gen. John R. Allen in a statement.
Although the Taliban told the BBC it was not behind the two attacks, Allen’s statement mentioned Mullah Omar, the head of the militant group, and called on him to condemn the attacks.
Until Tuesday’s attacks, tensions between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims in Afghanistan had cooled down, with militants targeting government officials and foreign troops in their attacks.
