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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CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand- Prince William will visit victims of the Christchurch mosque shootings next month, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Thursday on the eve of a national remembrance service being held in the grieving South Island city.
Ardern said the focus of Friday's service and next month's royal visit was supporting the Muslim community, which was devastated when a self-avowed white supremacist killed 50 people at two mosques in a shooting rampage.
Ardern will address the service, which has the theme "We Are One" and will be broadcast on national television.
She said representatives from 59 nations, including Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, were attending the event, which is expected to draw tens of thousands of people.
The emphasis will be on the Islamic community, with an invocation ringing out across Hagley Park, speeches by Muslim leaders and a performance by Cat Stevens, the British singer who shunned stardom in the 1970s and became a Muslim, taking the name Yusuf Islam.
"This is an event that has affected New Zealand deeply, but it was our Muslim New Zealanders who were targeted in this act of hatred," Ardern told reporters in Christchurch.
"Rightly so, that will be reflected in the remembrance service."
She said William, the Duke of Cambridge, was "very keen to show his support for the city and the Muslim community as it emerges from this attack".
'SENSELESS ATTACK'
William will represent his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, the official head of state of the former British colony.
"The visit will be another sign that this nation will always stand with those affected by the terror attacks, and the people of Christchurch," Ardern said.
The royals have previously expressed sympathy for the attacks.
"The Duke will meet with those affected by the attack and will pay tribute to the extraordinary compassion and solidarity that the people of New Zealand have displayed in recent weeks," Kensington Palace said in a statement.
Ardern said William already had a strong connection with Christchurch and the surrounding Canterbury region after visiting in the wake of a devastating 2011 earthquake that killed 185 people.
William made a two-day visit to Christchurch following the quake to attend a memorial service. He and his wife Kate also visited the city in 2014.
After the mosque attacks, William, Kate, Prince Harry and wife Meghan sent a message that ended "Kia kaha," meaning "be strong" in Maori.
"No person should ever have to fear attending a sacred place of worship," they said.
"This senseless attack is an affront to the people of Christchurch and New Zealand, and the broader Muslim community. It is a horrifying assault on a way of life that embodies decency, community, and friendship."
Ardern has led efforts to support New Zealand's small, tightly-knit Muslim community in the wake of the attack.
As well as symbolic gestures such as donning a headscarf while comforting survivors, she has also moved to tighten gun laws and called for social media giants to do more to combat hate speech.
She said New Zealanders were "on a journey" to uphold their core values and her government wanted to take a leadership role in ensuring that happened.
"We have never been free of racism, we have never been free of violent ideology," she said
"But our overriding values are ones of fairness, compassion and diversity."
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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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Facebook Inc. said it removed 1.5 million videos globally of the New Zealand mosque attack in the first 24 hours after the attack.
"In the first 24 hours, we removed 1.5 million videos of the attack globally, of which over 1.2 million were blocked at upload," Facebook said in a tweet late Saturday.
The company said it is also removing all edited versions of the video that do not show graphic content out of respect for the people affected by the mosque shooting and the concerns of local authorities.
The death toll in the New Zealand mosque shootings rose to 50 on Sunday. The gunman who attacked two mosques on Friday live-streamed the attacks on Facebook for 17 minutes using an app designed for extreme sports enthusiasts, with copies still being shared on social media hours later.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said she wants to discuss live streaming with Facebook.
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WELLINGTON -- New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Sunday said she would be looking for answers from Facebook and other social media firms about how an attack that killed 50 mosque-goers was livestreamed on their platforms.
Saying there were "further questions to be answered" by the tech giants, Ardern said Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg had been in contact and "acknowledged what has occurred here in New Zealand".
A horrific video shot by the gunmen who carried out the mosque massacre was livestreamed on Facebook before being removed by the company.
But the stream, lasting 17 minutes, was shared repeatedly on YouTube and Twitter, and internet platforms were scrambling to remove videos being reposted of the gruesome scenes.
"We did as much as we could to remove, or seek to have removed, some of the footage that was being circulated in the aftermath of this terrorist attack," Ardern said.
"But ultimately it has been up to those platforms to facilitate their removal."
"I do think that there are further questions to be answered."
In a statement on Sunday, Mia Garlick of Facebook New Zealand vowed to "work around the clock to remove violating content".
"In the first 24 hours we removed 1.5 million videos of the attack globally, of which over 1.2 million were blocked at upload," the company said.
Ardern was joined by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in expressing doubts that current rules go far enough.
Morrison said that social media companies had "co-operated" since the attack.
"But I sadly have to say that the capacity to actually assist fully is very limited on the technology side."
He said "assurances were given" that once such content was pulled down, a regime would make sure it did not go back up. "Clearly it hasn't (happened)."
"So I think there are some very real discussions that have to be had about how these facilities and capabilities as they exist on social media, can continue to be offered."
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LONDON - Leaders and organizations around the world expressed disgust and sorrow at the killing of 49 people in shootings at 2 New Zealand mosques on Friday, attacks that many blamed on the demonization of Muslims by the West.
Western leaders from Donald Trump to Angela Merkel expressed solidarity with New Zealanders, deploring what the White House called a "vicious act of hate."
The response from some Muslim countries went further, blaming politicians and the media for stoking that hatred. The nationalities of the victims included Indian, Pakistani, Malaysian, Indonesian, Egyptian, Bangladeshi, Saudi, Somalian and Turkish, authorities said.
New Zealand police said 49 people were killed and 42 were being treated for wounds, including a 4-year-old child. Three people were in custody including one man who has been charged with murder, police said.
"I blame these increasing terror attacks on the current Islamophobia post-9/11 (where) 1.3 billion Muslims have collectively been blamed for any act of terror," Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan wrote on social media.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the attack was a result of Muslims being demonized.
"Not only the perpetrators, but also politicians & media that fuel the already escalated Islamophobia and hate in the West are equally responsible for this heinous attack," he tweeted.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated "the urgency of working better together globally to counter Islamophobia and eliminate intolerance and violent extremism in all its forms," a spokesman said.
Hundreds of protesters in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, chanted "Allahu akbar!" (God is Greatest) after Friday prayers.
"We will not let the blood of Muslims go in vain," said one protester.
Members of the Bangladesh national cricket team, in Christchurch for a match against New Zealand, arrived for Friday prayers as the shooting started but were not hurt.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said some of the victims may have been new immigrants or refugees.
"They are us," she said. "The person who has perpetuated this violence against us is not. They have no place in New Zealand."
Trump, following a phone call with Ardern, said on Twitter: "...I informed the Prime Minister... that we stand in solidarity with New Zealand - and that any assistance the U.S.A. can give, we stand by ready to help. We love you New Zealand!"
The accused gunman's manifesto posted online praised Trump as "a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose."
Asked by a reporter if he thought white nationalism is a rising threat around the world, Trump said: "I don't really. I think it's a small group of people that have very, very serious problems. I guess if you look at what happened in New Zealand perhaps that's a case, I don't know enough about it yet."
Trump said he had not seen the gunman's manifesto.
'EXTREMIST'
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said an Australian national arrested after the attack was an "extremist, right-wing violent terrorist."
Britain's Queen Elizabeth, who is New Zealand's head of state, said she was "deeply saddened by the appalling events."
Pope Francis deplored the "senseless acts of violence."
In a message of condolence sent by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Francis "assures all New Zealanders, and in particular the Muslim community, of his heartfelt solidarity in the wake of these attacks".
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called for an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the world’s largest Muslim body, to discuss this "horrible crime", Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported.
"Western hypocrisy of defending demonisation of Muslims as 'freedom of expression' MUST end," Zarif said on Twitter. He posted a picture of US President Donald Trump saying "I think Islam hates us," during the 2016 US election campaign.
The Palestinian chief peace negotiator, Saeb Erekat, called the attack a "consequence of racist ideologies that continue trying to promote religious wars".
He compared it to the shooting last October at a synagogue in the US city of Pittsburgh that killed 11 people, deadly attacks on churches in Egypt by Islamic State and an attack by a far-right Israeli gunman on a West Bank mosque in 1994 that killed 29 people.
A statement by Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah, which has been accused by the United States of terrorism, said in part: "Hezbollah warns against the tendency of extremism against Muslims and foreigners and against the politics of hate that the United States nourishes in the world, rather than religious values that advocate tolerance, dialogue and acceptance of the other."
'FLAMES OF HATRED'
German Chancellor Merkel mourned "with the New Zealanders for their fellow citizens who were attacked and murdered out of racist hatred while peacefully praying in their mosques."
Her foreign minister, Heiko Maas, said: "When people are murdered solely because of their religion, this is an attack on us all."
Sadiq Khan, the first Muslim mayor of London, said Londoners stood shoulder to shoulder with the people of Christchurch. He also pointed his finger at those who promote religious hatred.
"When the flames of hatred are fanned, when people are demonised because of their faith, when people's fears are played on rather than addressed, the consequences are deadly, as we have seen so sadly today," he said.
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said the attack brought back memories of the 2011 attack by anti-Muslim extremist Anders Breivik that killed 77 people: "It shows that extremism is nurtured and that it lives in many places."
Al-Azhar University, Egypt's 1,000-year-old seat of Sunni Islamic learning, called the attack "a dangerous indicator of the dire consequences of escalating hate speech, xenophobia and the spread of Islamophobia."
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Egypt mourned on Saturday as the death toll from a gun and bomb assault at a mosque rose to 305, including children, in the deadliest attack the country has witnessed.
The state prosecution said up to 30 militants in camouflage flying the Islamic State (IS) group's black banner had surrounded the mosque in North Sinai and proceeded to massacre the worshippers during weekly Friday prayers.
Twenty-seven children were among the dead, it said.
IS, which is conducting a deadly insurgency in the Sinai, has not claimed responsibility for the attack, but it is the main suspect as the mosque is associated with followers of the mystical Sufi branch of Sunni Islam whom it has branded heretics.
Funerals for the victims were held overnight and many were buried unwashed in their bloodied clothes, according to the Islamic burial practices for martyrs, security and medical officials said.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared three days of mourning and vowed to "respond with brutal force" to the attack, among the deadliest in the world since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
"The army and police will avenge our martyrs and return security and stability with force in the coming short period," he said in a televised speech.
Hours later Egyptian air force jets pursued the "terrorists and discovered several vehicles used in the terrorist attack, killing those inside near the vicinity of the attack," an army spokesman said in a statement.
The state prosecutor's office said in a statement that 305 people were killed and 128 wounded in the assault on the mosque roughly 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of the North Sinai capital of El-Arish.
It said the attackers, with long beards and hair often seen on jihadists, had arrived in five all-terrain vehicles to surround the mosque.
Witnesses said they heard gun shots and explosions before the assailants entered the mosque, according to the prosecution.
One of the wounded, Magdy Rizk, told AFP assailants wore masks and military uniforms, and that extremists had previously threatened people in the area.
Relatives visited victims in hospital in the city of Ismailia near the Suez Canal where the wounded were taken for treatment, an AFP photographer reported.
World leaders voiced outrage. US President Donald Trump denounced on Twitter the "horrible and cowardly terrorist attack on innocent and defenceless worshippers".
Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar, Egypt's highest institution of Sunni Islam, condemned "in the strongest terms this barbaric terrorist attack".
- IS targeting of Sufis -
The Egypt branch of IS has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers, and also civilians accused of working with the authorities, in attacks in the north of the Sinai peninsula.
They have also targeted Sufis as well as Christians.
A tribal leader and head of a Bedouin militia that fights IS told AFP that the mosque is known as a place where Sufis gather.
IS views Sufis as heretics for seeking the intercession of saints.
The group has also killed more than 100 Christians in church bombings and shootings in Sinai and other parts of Egypt, forcing many to flee the peninsula.
The military has struggled to quell the jihadists who pledged allegiance to IS in November 2014.
The jihadists have since increasingly turned to civilian targets, attacking not only Christians and Sufis but also Bedouin Sinai inhabitants accused of working with the army.
The group also claimed the bombing of a Russian plane that killed all 224 people on board after takeoff from the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on October 31, 2015.
Aside from IS, Egypt also faces a threat from Al-Qaeda-aligned jihadists who operate out of neighbouring Libya.
A group calling itself Ansar al-Islam -- Supporters of Islam in Arabic -- claimed an October ambush in Egypt's Western Desert that killed at least 16 policemen.
The military later conducted air strikes on the attackers, killing their leader.
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