Huge blast at mosque in Kabul kills several

A huge explosion has struck a mosque in Kabul during evening prayers, witnesses and police said, with many feared dead or injured.

There were multiple casualties, but did not say how many. As many as 35 people have been wounded or killed in the Taliban, and the toll could go up further, a Taliban intelligence official told Reuters. An unidentified official was quoted as saying the death toll was 20.

The city's emergency hospital said it had received 27 patients wounded in the blast, including a seven-year-old child.

Witnesses told Reuters the powerful explosion occurred in a northern Kabul neighbourhood, shattering windows in nearby buildings. A blast inside a mosque has casualties, but the numbers are not clear yet, Khalid Zadran, a Kabul police spokesman, told Reuters.

The Taliban intelligence official said on condition of anonymity that the explosion occurred in a mosque in Khair Khana area.

The imam of the mosque was among those killed and the toll could still rise, the source said. An investigation into the blast site was ongoing and intelligence teams were at the blast site.

Other officials in the Taliban government did not respond to multiple requests to confirm the number of casualties.