Six people were killed and 16 others wounded when a suicide attacker posing as a shepherd blew himself up near a Shiite mosque in Kabul on Friday, police said.

“The bomber was grazing a herd of sheep and before reaching his target he detonated himself 140 meters from Hussainia mosque,” General Salim Almas, Kabul’s criminal investigative director, told AFP.

The attack in the north of the Afghan capital happened as worshippers were gathered inside Hussainia mosque, one of the biggest Shiite centers in the city, for Friday prayers.

The attacker had apparently wanted to reach the mosque while worshippers were still inside the prayer hall, during Ashura in the holy month of Muharram.

Source: AFP