At least 20 people were martyred and dozens more wounded in a suicide attack on a Shiite mosque in eastern Afghanistan Friday, officials said, warning that the toll could rise.

Officials have said they fear the death toll could rise after the assault, the latest targeting civilians who have borne the brunt of the violence in Afghanistan’s long conflict.

“A suicide blast took place inside a Shiite mosque in the city of Gardez of Paktia province,” General Raz Mohammad Mandozai, provincial police chief of Paktia near the Pakistan border, told AFP.

“We have 20 people killed and around 50 others were wounded. All the victims were worshippers as they were busy offering Friday prayers when they were killed.”

Mandozai added that at least two attackers opened fire on the crowd before detonating explosives, and said there may have been more than one suicide blast.

Abdullah Hasrat, the Paktia governor’s spokesman, gave a slightly higher death toll of 22, warning that it could rise.

The head of Gardez’s public health department Wilayat Khan Ahmadzai said that more than 70 people had been killed and wounded, with many rushed to the city’s civilian hospital.

Source: AFP