A GUNMAN stormed a mosque in western Afghanistan, shooting dead six people as they were praying, a Taliban official said today. 

Local media reports and a former president of Afghanistan said the mosque had been targeted because it was a place of worship for members of the Shi’ite Muslim minority.

According to Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani, the attack happened on Monday night in the district of Guzara in Herat province. 

He said in a post on the X social media platform that an investigation was under way.

No-one immediately claimed responsibility for the atrocity, which also left another worshipper wounded, and the gunman fled the scene. 

Local media reported that the mosque’s imam was among those killed.

“I strongly condemn the attack on the Imam Zaman mosque,” former president Hamid Karzai wrote on X. “I consider this terrorist act against all religious and human standards.”

The Islamic State group’s affiliate in Afghanistan is a major rival of the Taliban and frequently targets schools, hospitals, mosques and Shi’ite areas throughout the country.

The Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 after US and Nato troops withdrew from the country following 20 years of war.