BRUTAL

Death Toll Climbs in Afghan Mosque Attacks

Nearly 80 people were killed in two suicide bombings.

Afghan officials estimate 76 people have been killed in a pair of bombings on Friday. The number of those killed in a Shiite mosque attack that rocked the capital has risen to 56. “The toll from yesterday's Imam Zaman mosque attack has increased to 56 killed, including women and children, and 55 wounded,” an interior ministry spokesman told Agence France-Presse on Saturday. Authorities had earlier put the death toll at 39. A lone suicide bomber struck the mosque late Friday during evening prayers. The so-called Islamic State later claimed responsibility for the bombing. Twenty other people were killed in a second suicide bombing in the remote province of Ghor on Friday, leaving a total of 76 people dead in one of the bloodiest weeks in the country in recent memory.