Bomb blast at mosque in Afghanistan kills three and injures 15 people

The Taliban has been waging a counter-insurgency campaign against Isis in recent months

A bomb blast in a mosque in eastern Afghanistan has killed at least three and injured at least 15 people.

The bomb exploded during Friday prayers in a Shiite mosque in the town of Traili outside the provincial capital Jalalabad, Taliban spokesperson Qari Hanif for Nangarhar province said.

Resident Atal Shinwari told the Reuters news agency the blast occurred at about 1.30pm local time.

If confirmed, it would be the third major Shiite mosque bombing in five weeks in the country, following deadly blasts in the cities of Kunduz and Kandahar during Friday prayers.

No group has claimed responsibility yet but the province, which has a Sunni majority population, has recently faced a number of bomb attacks from the so-called Islamic State terrorist group.

Afghanistan’s Shiite minority has previously been Isis’s target for mosque bombings.

The Taliban have been waging a counterinsurgency campaign against other militant groups in recent months after it took control of Afghanistan.

In September, a string of roadside explosions struck Taliban vehicles in Jalalabad, killing at least eight people, including Taliban fighters.

On Wednesday, the Taliban said that 600 Isis members have been arrested in the last three months.

At least 33 Isis members have been killed in gun battles with Taliban security forces, said Taliban spokesperson Khalil Hamraz.

Additional reporting by agencies