Mosque blast kills 33, including children, in Afghanistan

A bomb blast ripped through a mosque during Friday prayers in northern Afghanistan, killing 33 people including children, just a day after the Islamic State group claimed two separate deadly attacks.

Since Taliban fighters seized control of Afghanistan last year after ousting the US-backed government, the number of bombings has fallen but the jihadist and Sunni IS continued with attacks against targets they see as heretical.

A string of bombings rocked the country this week, with deadly attacks targeting a school and a mosque in Shiite neighbourhoods.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted that children were among the 33 dead in the blast on Friday at a mosque in the northern province of Kunduz.

"We condemn this crime... and express our deepest sympathies to the bereaved," he said, adding that 43 more were wounded.

An intelligence official said on condition of anonymity that the explosion was caused by a bomb, but it was unclear how it was detonated.

An AFP correspondent saw large holes blown through the walls of the Mawlavi Sikandar mosque, popular with Sufis in the Imam Sahib district, north of Kunduz city. 

One side of the mosque was completely destroyed by...