A suicide attack has hit a Shia mosque during Friday prayers in the Afghan city of Kandahar, injuring more than 40 people.
The mosque was packed with worshippers as the suicide attack took place.
The Islamic State group (IS) released a statement saying it was behind the blasts.
It said two attackers shot and killed guards before entering the building and blowing themselves up.
“The firing started after we ended the prayers,” said a man named Ahmadullah.
“Then two, three explosions took place. We were thrown towards the window. Many people, martyred [killed] or wounded, were laying there.”
A regional branch of Islamic State, IS-K, has carried out multiple attacks in the past in Afghanistan and opposes the country’s Taliban rulers.
Kandahar is Afghanistan’s second largest city and the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban, so an attack in the city by IS-K is seen as significant.
IS-K, a Sunni Muslim group, is the most extreme and violent of all the jihadist militant groups in Afghanistan.
It has targeted Afghan security forces, Afghan politicians and ministries, the Taliban, religious minorities including Shia Muslims and Sikhs, US and Nato forces, and international agencies, including aid organisations.
BBC