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Injured people are transported to the hospital after the attack on a mosque on October 18, 2019. REUTERS / Parwiz

At least 62 people were killed and 55 injured in an attack in a mosque in eastern Afghanistan during Friday prayers on 18 October.

At least 62 people were killed and 55 injured in an attack in a mosque in eastern Afghanistan during Friday prayers on 18 October. The attack was carried out with explosives placed inside the mosque, located in the village of Jaw Dara, in the district of Haska Mina. The mosque, whose roof collapsed, could hold up to 700 worshipers, but had 350 at the time of the explosion. Inside, carpets are covered with blood and glass debris.

The Taliban and Islamic State , which clash in the region, are both located in Nangarhar, a border province of Pakistan. The district of Haska Mina, also called Deh Bala, is close to this border. The Afghan security forces are fighting the Taliban but also the Islamic State (IS) group. He had made his first appearance in the country in this province of eastern Afghanistan in late 2014, recalls our correspondent on the spot, Sonia Ghezali .

The Taliban deny any involvement. A few weeks ago, their representatives met with US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in neighboring Pakistan. This interview foreshadowed the resumption of pax talks between Washington and the insurgents, according to several obersvateurs.

The climate in the country is deleterious. At issue: uncertainty about the outcome of the presidential election on September 28, given the numerous accusations of fraud emanating from several candidates against others. Results will be announced late, in more than a week. The people fear a post-election crisis and even more violence.

Number of unprecedented victims

On October 17, a UN report lamented an unprecedented number of casualties for more than a decade in the third quarter of the year as Afghanistan continued to sink into " totally unacceptable " violence.

Between 1 July and 30 September, the UN Mission in Afghanistan (Manua) recorded 1,174 civilians killed and 3,139 injured, according to its quarterly report. The month of July, with 425 deaths recorded, was also the worst in a decade.

Attacks on mosques are infrequent, as are those of a denominational nature. Shiites are more often the target of such attacks, in a predominantly Sunni Afghanistan.

► To read also: Afghanistan: the wave of attacks continues to a few days of the presidential election