Kabul, May 1 -- A gunman attacked a mosque in western Afghanistan and killed six people, a government spokesman said, with local residents claiming the minority Shiite community had been targeted. Interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said that "an unknown armed person shot at civilian worshippers in a mosque" in Herat province's Guzara district on April 29 at around 9:00 pm (1630 GMT).

"Six civilians were martyred and one civilian was injured," he wrote on social media platform X. Locals said the mosque served the minority Shiite community in a district just south of the provincial capital of Herat city, and the imam and a three-year-old child were among those killed. They also said a team of three gunmen staged the attack, cont...