27 killed in blast at Shi'ite mosque in Kabul

KABUL • A suicide bomber killed at least 27 people and wounded dozens yesterday in an explosion at a crowded Shi'ite mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul, officials said.

The attacker entered the Baqir ul Olum mosque during a ceremony, said an Interior Ministry statement. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has claimed responsibility.

Bloody rivalry between Sunnis and Shi'ites has been relatively rare in Afghanistan, a majority Sunni country, but the attack underlines the deadly new dimension that growing ethnic tension could bring to its decades-long conflict.

There had been two major recent attacks on Shi'ite targets in Kabul, both claimed by ISIS.

Last month, at least 14 were killed when a gunman in police uniform opened fire on worshippers at a Shi'ite shrine for the Ashura festival. In July, over 80 died in an attack on a demonstration by the mainly Shi'ite Hazara minority.

REUTERS

7 arrested, 'terror ring busted' in France

PARIS • Police have broken up a terror ring plotting an attack in France after arresting seven suspects in Strasbourg and Marseille, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said yesterday.

The arrests of seven people - of French, Moroccan and Afghan origin - "enabled us to prevent a long- planned terror attack on our soil", he told a televised news conference.

Police raids were carried out over the weekend in both cities following an eight-month investigation by security services.

Mr Cazeneuve linked the plot by the suspects, aged from 29 to 37, to raids carried out shortly before the Euro 2016 football championship hosted by France in June and July. Only one of the detainees was known to security forces, a Moroccan who had been flagged by a "partner country".

France remains in a state of emergency a year after terror attacks on Paris left 130 dead. Over 400 people have been arrested in the country this year for suspected links to terror networks.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE