Armed attack targets a mosque in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, resulting in casualties

Six people were killed and more than 30 others were injured in an armed attack targeting worshippers inside a mosque in the town of Mohammad Kisha in Bamiyan province, central Afghanistan, according to the Jumhor news agency on Monday.

The attack occurred on the evening of September 21 during the evening prayer, when gunmen stormed the mosque and opened fire on worshippers belonging to the Hanafi school.

The agency quoted the press office of the regional governor as saying that the incident may be related to "personal enmity," noting that the number of injured did not exceed ten people, which contradicts local witnesses' accounts that spoke of dozens of injured.

Some residents of the area confirmed that tensions between followers of two jurisprudential schools, in the predominantly Hanafi town of Mohammad Kisha and the Salafi-majority Jalmish, are not new. They also pointed out that Jalmish has turned in recent years into a center for recruiting elements for ISIS, with several of its youth joining the ranks of the organization.

Experts warned that the rise of extremist ideology in the central regions of the country, in the absence of accountability mechanisms, could once again bring to the forefront the danger of the resurgence of terrorist groups.