RNA – At least 14 people have been killed and 36 wounded after a gunman burst into a Shi’a shrine in the Afghan capital, during the marking of the Muharram mourning ceremony in what appears to have been a sectarian attack.
The worshipers were densely packed during an evening service at the Karteh Sakhi shrine during one of the key weeks in the Shi’a calendar, when the attack occurred.
In a blurry video taken from a distance posted to social media shortly after the incident, a staccato barrage of gunshots is followed by screams. Several unverified photos from the shrine showed the floors running red with blood.
But the interior ministry later said that there was only one attacker. A police source told media that the gunman had been dressed in a police uniform and wearing a suicide vest when he entered the mosque. He then shot at a policeman with a handgun, before grabbing an officer’s AK-74 and “shooting randomly at worshippers.”
The Ministry of Public Health said that as many as 40 people have been delivered to hospitals, as well as the 14, who have been confirmed dead, with one policeman among them.
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