‘I heard sound of firing’: Shock at attack on mosque in Afghanistan’s Kandahar

Sardar Mohammad Zaidi, imam of the Fatima mosque in the Afghan city of Kandahar, had almost reached the end of Friday prayers when gunfire and explosions signalled the start of the second attack on a Shi’ite mosque in a week. The mosque, also known as the Imam Bargah mosque, is the largest of around 40 Shi’ite…

Thousands protest against Taliban in Kandahar over evictions

Thousands of Afghans protested against the Taliban in the southern city of Kandahar on Tuesday, according to a former government official and local television footage, after residents were asked to vacate a residential army colony. Protesters gathered in front of the governor’s house in Kandahar after around 3,000…