JALALABAD, Afghanistan - At least 28 worshippers were killed and dozens wounded by a blast inside an Afghan mosque during Friday prayers, officials said, a day after the United Nations said violence in the country had reached "unacceptable" levels.
The explosion, which witnesses said collapsed the mosque's roof, took place in eastern Nangarhar province and wounded at least 55 people, provincial governor spokesman Attaullah Khogyani told AFP.
He said the dead were "all worshippers" in the blast in Haska Mina district, roughly 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the provincial capital Jalalabad.
A doctor at a hospital in Haska Mina gave a slightly higher toll, telling AFP that "around" 32 bodies had been brought in, along with 50 wounded.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Both the Taliban and the Islamic State group are active in Nangarhar province.
Witnesses said the roof of the mosque had fallen through after the "loud" explosion, the nature of which was not immediately clear.
"Dozens of people were killed and wounded and were taken in several ambulances," Haji Amanat Khan, a 65-year-old local resident, told AFP.
The blast came after the UN released a new report on Thursday saying an "unprecedented" number of civilians were killed or wounded in Afghanistan from July to September.
The report, which also charts violence throughout 2019 so far, underscores how "Afghans have been exposed to extreme levels of violence for many years" despite promises by all sides to "prevent and mitigate harm to civilians."
It also noted the absurdity of the ever-increasing price paid by civilians given the widespread belief that the war in Afghanistan cannot be won by either side.
"Civilian casualties are totally unacceptable," said the UN's special representative in Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, adding they demonstrate the importance of talks leading to a ceasefire and a permanent political settlement.
The figures - 1,174 deaths and 3,139 injured from July 1 until September 30 - represent a 42-percent increase compared to the same period last year.
The UN laid most of the blame for the spike at the feet of "anti-government elements" such as the Taliban, who have been carrying out a bloody insurgency in Afghanistan for more than 18 years.
July alone saw more casualties than in any other month on record since the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) began documenting the violence in 2009.
The first six months of 2019 had seen casualties drop slightly compared to previous years.
But the violence has surged so far in the third quarter that it yanked the overall total for the year back on par with the bloodiest since NATO withdrew its combat forces at the end of 2014.
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OSLO - A gunman armed with multiple weapons opened fire in a mosque near Oslo on Saturday, injuring one person before being overpowered by an elderly worshipper and arrested, Norwegian police and witnesses said.
Hours after the attack, the body of a young woman related to the suspect was found in a home in the suburb of Baerum where the shooting took place earlier in the day, police said Saturday evening.
Investigators are treating her death as suspicious and have opened a murder probe.
The head of the mosque described the assailant as a young white man dressed in black and said he was wearing a helmet and bulletproof vest.
He said only three people had been inside the al-Noor Islamic center at the time of the attack.
Police were alerted to the shooting shortly after 4 pm (1400 GMT).
Officers first reported that a victim had been shot, but later clarified one person had sustained "minor injuries" and that it was unclear if they were gunshot wounds.
Police said the suspect appeared to have acted on his own.
"It is a Norwegian young man, with a Norwegian background. He lives in the vicinity," Oslo police spokesman Rune Skjold had told a press conference earlier Saturday.
Skjold added that the suspect had been known to police before the incident but could not be described as someone with a "criminal background".
Norway was the scene of one of the worst-ever attacks by a right-wing extremist in July 2011, when 77 people were killed by Anders Behring Breivik.
'Blood on the carpets'
"One of our members has been shot by a white man with a helmet and uniform," Irfan Mushtaq, head of the mosque, told local media.
Mushtaq said that the man had carried multiple weapons, but that he had been subdued by a member of the mosque.
Mushtaq himself had arrived at the scene shortly after being alerted about the gunman, and had gone to the back of the building while waiting for police to arrive.
"Then I see that there are cartridges scattered and blood on the carpets, and I see one of our members is sitting on the perpetrator, covered in blood," Mushtaq told Norwegian newspaper VG.
He said the man who apparently overpowered the shooter was 75 years old and had been reading the Koran after a prayer session.
According to Mushtaq, the mosque had not received any threats ahead of the shooting.
The attack took place on the eve of the Muslim celebration of Eid Al-Adha, marking the end of the Muslim pilgrimage Hajj.
Police said Saturday they would be sending out more officers so that those celebrating would "be as safe as possible".
New Zealand connection?
There has been a recent spate of white nationalist attacks in the West, including in the United States and in New Zealand where 51 Muslim worshippers were killed in March in shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch.
The al-Noor Islamic center in Norway shares its name with the worst affected mosque in the New Zealand attacks.
Local Norwegian paper Budstikka said it had contacted the mosque in March after the Christchurch massacre and that officials there had said security would be tightened.
The suspect in the Christchurch killings wrote a hate-filled manifesto in which he said he was influenced by far-right ideologues including the Norwegian mass murderer Breivik.
Breivik detonated a massive bomb in Oslo that killed eight people and then opened fire on a gathering of the Labour Party's youth wing on the island of Utoya, killing another 69 people, most of them teenagers.
Norwegian police said they were aware that Saturday's suspect had been active online prior to the shooting.
Broadcaster TV2 reported they had learned the identity of the man and located a post to an online forum from someone using the same name, posted only hours before the attack.
The post seemingly praising the New Zealand attacker and ended with the words "Valhall awaits".
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CHRISTCHURCH- New Zealand will tighten gun laws in the wake of its worst modern-day massacre, the government said Monday, as it emerged the white supremacist accused of carrying out the killings at two mosques will represent himself in court.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said her coalition was unified on the need to reduce the availability of the kind of weapons used by Brenton Tarrant as he went room to room shooting Muslims gathered for Friday prayers.
"We have made a decision as a cabinet, we are unified," she said, flanked by her coalition partner and deputy prime minister, Winston Peters.
Peters, whose New Zealand First party has previously opposed changes, said he backed the prime minister fully.
"The reality is that after one pm on Friday our world changed forever, and so will our laws," he said.
Ardern, the youthful premier who has become the face of the nation's tragedy, said there would be an inquiry into the horrifying attack, as questions swirl over whether intelligence agencies should have spotted warning signs.
The role of social media has also come under the spotlight, after the gunman livestreamed his rampage on Facebook.
A teenager, whose name cannot be published, appeared in court Monday charged with distributing that footage.
Grief continued to wash across the nation Monday, with New Zealanders of all stripes gathering to express revulsion over the killings -- and unity in the face of racial hatred.
A Maori cleansing ceremony was performed at the Al Noor mosque -- the scene of the largest massacre -- bringing together indigenous Kiwis, Muslim leaders and local officials.
Later, dozens of students gathered there to pay their respects, laying flowers and lighting candles.
Many came together for a haka -- a traditional Maori ceremonial dance that has been performed by groups across New Zealand in the wake of killings.
And in Auckland, students at Orewa College gathered to form a heart and the message "Kia Kaha" -- "stay strong" in Maori.
"It brings to mind our own values and why we find this so abhorrent. Ideas held by the perpetrator have no place in our community and school," the college said.
'NOTHING EXTRAORDINARY'
The organizers of New Zealand’s largest gun show -- the Kumeu Militaria Show, near Auckland -- announced Monday they had canceled the event in the wake of the massacre and because of "elevated security risks"
Despite having tightened the rules in the 1990s after the last mass shooting, New Zealand has relatively permissive gun laws, with nearly all of those who apply granted gun licenses.
David Tipple, the managing director of Gun City, whose online store sold Tarrant four weapons, said he felt no responsibility for the killings.
"We detected nothing extraordinary about this license holder," he told reporters.
Tarrant, who appeared in court on Saturday charged with murder, on Monday sacked his state-appointed lawyer.
Richard Peters, who represented the alleged killer during the hearing, told AFP the 28-year-old "wants to be self-represented in this case."
"The way he presented was rational and someone who was not suffering any mental disability. He seemed to understand what was going on," Peters said.
Under New Zealand law, if Tarrant pleads not guilty his case would normally go to trial, raising the possibility that he could face survivors and victims' families in court.
Mustafa Farouk, president of the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand, told reporters he had faith in the system.
"As a community, we would like that person to go through the process, the due process, and to be given all his rights," he said.
"We believe in the justice system here and we know it will do what is right."
But, he cautioned, the attitudes that gave rise to the killing -- documented in a rambling, racist screed released online minutes before the attacks began -- must be tackled.
"This rise in hatred... by people who call themselves right-wing, whether smaller groups or through reckless politicians, should not be allowed to continue.
"What happened to our community here will happen to another community," he said.
GRAVES
Frustrated families of the 50 victims were still waiting Monday for the release of the bodies of their loved ones, as officials worked their way through a painstaking investigation.
Dozens of graves were being dug in readiness for that release, which Police Deputy Commissioner Wally Haumaha said he hoped would happen soon.
"The process has been highly emotional and stressful for all... as in accordance with Islamic faith the families have wanted the bodies to be returned as soon as possible," he said.
"We have burial expert teams in place ready to receive the bodies at a point in time."
The dead from Friday's attack span generations, aged between three and 77, according to a list circulated among relatives.
Some victims came from the neighborhood, others from as far afield as Egypt. At least two of the dead came from the same family -- a father and son.
Delhi said Sunday that five of its nationals were killed, while Pakistan said nine of its citizens were among the dead, including one man who died trying to rush Tarrant.
Authorities said 31 people remained in hospital, nine in critical condition.
The ripples from Friday's horror continued to spread across New Zealand, with the brief shuttering of an airport in Dunedin after a suspicious package sparked a security alert.
Reigning Super Rugby champions Canterbury Crusaders, who play in Christchurch, said Monday they would consider changing their name after criticism that it was historically insensitive.
Distinctive writing on the mosque attacker's weaponry included the names of figures from the Crusades, the religious wars waged by European Christians against Muslims for control of the Holy Land in the Middle Ages.
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CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand - Attacks on two Christchurch mosques left at least 49 dead Friday, with one gunman -- identified as an Australian extremist -- apparently livestreaming the assault that triggered the lockdown of the New Zealand city.
In what appeared to be the worst attack against Muslims in a western country, witnesses spoke of victims being shot at close range, with women and children believed to be among those killed.
"It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack," said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, saying it marked "one of New Zealand's darkest days."
"From what we know, it does appear to have been well planned," she said, adding that in addition to the dead another 20 people were seriously injured.
The gunman at one mosque was an Australian-born citizen, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in Sydney, describing him as "an extremist, right-wing, violent terrorist."
It was not immediately clear how many attackers were involved, but Ardern said three men had been taken into custody.
Two IEDs (improvised explosive devices) were also found and neutralized by the military, police said.
A Palestinian man who was in one of the mosques said he saw someone being shot in the head.
"I heard three quick shots, then after about 10 seconds it started again. It must have been an automatic -- no one could pull a trigger that quick," the man, who did not wish to be named, told AFP.
"Then people started running out. Some were covered in blood," he said, adding that he joined the fleeing crowd and managed to escape.
Local media reported at least nine people were dead.
Video and documents circulating online -- but not officially confirmed -- suggested the shooter had streamed his attack on Facebook Live.
AFP has examined the footage, which has subsequently been taken down. Journalists experienced in verification techniques said it appeared to be genuine.
New Zealand police described it as "extremely distressing" and urged web users not to share it.
A manifesto had also been posted online on accounts linked to the same Facebook page, suggesting the attack was racially motivated.
A number of pictures were posted to a social media account of a semi-automatic weapon covered in the names of historical figures, many of whom were involved in the killing of Muslims.
Police, who initially imposed a city-wide lockdown, sent armed officers to a number of scenes.
'Darkest day'
An ashen-faced Ardern told reporters the attacks had been "an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence."
"It is clear that this is one of New Zealand's darkest days," she said.
Forty-one of those slain were at the Masjid al Noor in central Christchurch, police said. Seven more were killed at the Linwood Ave mosque, three of them outside the building. It is unclear where the remaining victim died.
The two mosques are about five kilometers apart. It was not clear if the same gunman was involved at both sites.
One witness told stuff.co.nz he was praying when he heard shooting -- and then saw his wife lying dead on the footpath outside when he fled.
Another man said he saw children being shot.
"There were bodies all over," he said.
An eyewitness told Radio New Zealand that he heard shots fired and four people were lying on the ground, with "blood everywhere".
Police warned Muslims all over the country not to visit mosques "anywhere in New Zealand." Friday is Islam's holy day.
The Christchurch city council offered a helpline for parents looking for kids attending a mass climate change rally nearby.
The Bangladesh cricket team -- which had been in Christchurch for a test match against New Zealand that was later cancelled -- all escaped without injury.
A spokesperson said the attack happened as some of the players got off a team bus and were about to enter the mosque.
"They are safe. But they are mentally shocked. We have asked the team to stay confined in the hotel," he told AFP.
Mass shootings are rare in New Zealand, which tightened its gun laws to restrict access to semi-automatic rifles in 1992, two years after a mentally ill man shot dead 13 people in the South Island town of Aramoana.
However, anyone over 16 can apply for a standard firearms license after doing a safety course, which allows them to purchase and use a shotgun unsupervised.
Christchurch, a relatively small city in the south of New Zealand, hit global headlines in 2011 when it was struck by a deadly earthquake.
Dozens of people died and the city's historic cathedral was toppled in the disaster.
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LONDON- A van ploughed into worshipers leaving a London mosque on Monday, killing at least one person and injuring 10 others in what witnesses said was a deliberate attack on Muslims.
The hired vehicle swerved into a group of people leaving prayers shortly after midnight at the Finsbury Park Mosque, one of the biggest in the country, witnesses said. The attack comes during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
"This big van just came and went all over us," witness Abdulrahman Saleh Alamoudi told BuzzFeed News. "He was screaming... 'I'm going to kill all Muslims'."
British Prime Minister Theresa May said police had confirmed it was being treated as a potential terrorist attack and said she would chair an emergency response meeting later on Monday.
"All my thoughts are with the victims, their families and the emergency services on the scene," she said.
Police said one man was pronounced dead at the scene and that the van driver, aged 48, had been detained by members of the public before being arrested. The driver would undergo a mental health assessment in due course, police said.
Eight people were taken to hospital, while two were treated at the scene.
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said extra police had been deployed to reassure communities, especially those observing Ramadan, describing the attack as "an assault on all our shared values of tolerance, freedom and respect".
The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, in whose constituency the attack took place, said he was "totally shocked".
The incident comes just over two weeks after three Islamist militants drove into pedestrians on London Bridge and stabbed people at nearby restaurants and bars, killing eight. .
"ATTACK ON MUSLIMS"
The Muslim Council of Britain said Monday's attack was the most violent manifestation of Islamophobia in Britain in recent months and called for extra security at places of worship.
"It appears that a white man in a van intentionally ploughed into a group of worshippers who were already tending to someone who had been taken ill," the council said in a statement.
Police said they were called just after 12:20 a.m. (2320 GMT Sunday) to reports of a collision on Seven Sisters Road, which runs through the Finsbury Park area of north London.
"From the window, I started hearing a lot of yelling and screeching, a lot of chaos outside. … Everybody was shouting: 'A van’s hit people, a van’s hit people'," one woman who lives opposite the scene told the BBC.
"There was this white van stopped outside Finsbury Park mosque that seemed to have hit people who were coming out after prayers had finished."
The attack comes at a time of political turmoil in Britain, as Prime Minister May plunges into divorce talks with the European Union weakened by the loss of her parliamentary majority in a June 8 election.
She has faced heavy criticism for her response to a fire in a London tower block on Wednesday which killed at least 58 people, and for her record on security after a series of attacks blamed on Islamist militants in recent months.
One witness told CNN it was clear that the attacker at Finsbury Park had deliberately targeted Muslims.
"He tried to kill a lot of people so obviously it's a terrorist attack. He targeted Muslims this time," the witness, identified only as Rayan, said.
Other witnesses told Sky television that the van had hit at least 10 people. The Evening Standard newspaper said the van appeared to have been rented in Wales, although there was no immediate confirmation of this from the authorities.
'DELIBERATELY SWERVED'
Miqdaad Versi, assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said the van had deliberately swerved into a group of people who were helping a man who was ill and had fallen to the ground.
"Basically, a van swerved into them deliberately," Versi told Reuters, citing a witness.
He said the driver had run out of the van but a group of people caught him and held him until police arrived.
Britain has been hit by a series of attacks in recent months, including the van-and-knife attack on London Bridge on June 3.
On March 22, a man drove a rented car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in London and stabbed a policeman to death before being shot dead. His attack killed five people.
On May 22, a suicide bomber killed 22 people at a concert by American pop singer Ariana Grande in Manchester in northern England.
The attacks were a factor in campaigning ahead of the June 8 election, with May criticised for overseeing a drop of 20,000 in the number of police officers in England and Wales as interior minister from 2010 to 2016.
She was also criticised for keeping her distance from angry residents during her visit to the charred remains of the 24-storey Grenfell Tower. She said on Saturday the response to the fire had been "not good enough".
The Finsbury Park Mosque gained notoriety more than a decade ago for sermons by radical cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, who was sentenced to life in a U.S. prison in January 2015 for his conviction on terrorism-related charges.
A new board of trustees and management took over in February 2005, a year after Abu Hamza was arrested by British police, since when attendance has greatly increased among worshipers from various communities, according to the mosque's website.
(Additional reporting by Will James, Dylan Martinez; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge and Nick Tattersall; Editing by Robert Birsel and Simon Cameron-Moore)
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