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By
Rahimullah Yusufzai PESHAWAR: The Taliban have arrested eight persons suspected
for involvement in the bomb explosion in a mosque in Herat, western Afghanistan,
that killed dissident Iranian Sunni scholar Qari Mohammad Musa Karimpur and nine
other people. Sources in Herat said those nabbed were all Afghans and some of
them were Shias. They were being interrogated in a bid to track down the
culprits. The ruling Taliban have arrested another 300 men in the aftermath of
the violence that gripped Herat for two days after the blast in the Moi Mubarak
Mosque.
The
sources said those arrested included both Shias and Sunnis. Most of the Shias,
who were picked up, were accused of firing at protesters who attacked Shia
mosques and Imambargahs in the city. The death toll in the violence was stated
to be 12. They included eight persons, including a woman, who were killed on the
spot in the blast at the mosque. Two out of the 30 who were injured by the
explosion later died at the hospital. Two more people, including a Taliban
soldier, were killed subsequently when unknown persons allegedly fired at
protesters outside an Imambargah. The Taliban claimed they had recovered a
hand-grenade and a bomb from the place that was used to fire at protesters. The
sources said Qari Mohammad Musa Karimpur, an Iranian Sunni religious
scholar who took refuge in Herat
in 1994, was the main target of the bomb planted in a bicycle in the Moi Mubarak
Mosque. He used to deliver the Friday sermon at this small mosque to a select
gathering. Taliban investigators believe the bomb was exploded through remote
control soon after the Friday prayers. Beside Qari Musa, the second Iranian
reportedly killed in the blast was his brother. The other victims included
beggars and some of the faithful who had come for prayers.
Qari
Musa's supporters said he was forced to seek refuge in Afghanistan when his
mosque, Masjid-i-Faiz, was levelled to the ground on the orders of the Iranian
government and replaced with a children park. Qari Musa used to speak on
controversial issues at the mosque and demanded Sunni rights in Iran. The
Iranian government has denied such allegations in the past.
It
was also learnt that at least 20 jewellery shops in the Sarafa Market in Herat
were also attacked and looted by rioters. Two Shia mosques and some Imambargahs
were also attacked and put on fire. The Iranian Consulate was attacked on two
consecutive days and 11 vehicles parked in its compound torched. The Iranian
flag was burnt, the windows and doors of the Iranian Consulate damaged and its
record put on fire. The Iranian diplomats, led by consul
general Alvizada, saved their lives by hiding in a storeroom until they were
rescued by Taliban guards. Later they were shifted to a Taliban guesthouse and
escorted to the Iranian border the next morning.
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