Published on 12:00 AM, June 17, 2017

Blasts kill 4 at Kabul mosque

8 wounded; IS claims responsibility

Suicide bombers struck a crowded Shia mosque in Kabul late Thursday, killing four people in the latest in a series of militant attacks to rattle the Afghan capital during the holy month of Ramadan.

The assault claimed by Islamic State jihadists left eight others wounded when the bombers blew themselves up in the kitchen of Al Zahra mosque after police prevented them from entering the prayer hall packed with worshippers.

The carnage comes at a time Kabul is already on edge following a wave of deadly bombings, which triggered angry public protests calling for the resignation of President Ashraf Ghani's government over spiralling insecurity.

"Terrorist attack on Al Zahra mosque in west of Kabul," ministry spokesman Najib Danish said. "Three civilians and one policeman was killed and eight others were wounded."

IS, which has frequently targeted minority Shia areas in Kabul, claimed responsibility for the attack via its propaganda agency Amaq.

The Taliban, Afghanistan's biggest militant group locked in a fierce rivalry with IS, disavowed the attack with a spokesman saying they do not target places of worship.

The rise of IS has raised the spectre of sectarian discord in Afghanistan, something that the Sunni-majority country has largely been spared despite decades of war.

Afghanistan has witnessed a wave of attacks on Shiites in recent months claimed by IS, which considers Shiite Muslims apostates.