Deadly Blast Hits Kuwait Mosque after Friday Prayers
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - An explosion ripped through a Shiite mosque in Kuwait City after Friday prayers, killing at least eight people and wounding several others.
Video footage from the scene showed several bodies on the floor of the Imam Sadiq mosque amid debris and clouds of heavy smoke.
The exact number of casualties was expected to rise, according to local media outlets, as several casualties were in critical condition.
At least eight victims with various injuries arrived at a local hospital in the mosque's neighborhood, medical sources said, Al Jazeera reported.
Emergency services were attending the scene, which was surrounded by clouds of black smoke and crowds of people milling around.
Kuwaiti Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah visited the Imam Sadiq mosque, located just a few buidling away from the country's interior ministry.
Saad al-Ajmi, Kuwait's former information minister, told Al Jazeera that the attack was a reminder that no country was "immune from terrorism".
Ajmi said Kuwait had "a good record" in its relationship between Sunni and Shiite groups, and was a small country with good security.
He said there was no widespread dissent and he would not be surprised if it was caused by a "lone wolf".
However if a group was to claim responsibility "I think that those who want to tip the whole region ablaze in a sectarian war would be behind this attack because that is their agenda".
