Cleric one of 20 killed in Afghanistan mosque attack

Kabul 2 September : At at least 20 people, including a prominent clergyman was killed as well as 22 other people wounded the previous day in an explosion in front of the mosque in Afghanistans Herat city, local media reported.

Mujib Rahman Ansari the chief cleric of the mosque was killed in the blast "Unfortunately the countrys most well-known theologian Mawlawi Mujib Rahman Ansari was been killed in an act of cowardice during prayer service on Friday in Herat," a Taliban spokesperson tweeted.Its not known who is behind this attack which the Taliban condemned as "sinister" and "cowardly" the BBC reported.

The murder is the most recent in the series of murders of prominent pro-Taliban leaders in the nation.Police say that Ansari arrived at Gazargah mosque to lead Fridays noon prayer when an unidentified suicide attacker kissed the clerics hand , and ignited an explosive device.

The clergyman was well-known in Afghanistan for his support of the Talibans rule.The statement was made earlier in the summer, at a prayer gathering in Kabul, he called for those who have committed "the most insignificant act against the Islamic administration" to be executed.akr/pg.