Officials say dead from Kabul mosque attack rises to 39

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN: Afghanistan's Interior Ministry says the fatalities from a suicide bombing attack in a Shiite mosque in the capital Kabul has risen to 39 dead and 41 wounded.

The ministry's press office says in a statement Saturday it is investigating the attack a day earlier at the Imam Zaman Mosque in western Kabul's Dashte-e-Barchi neighborhood. It said the assailant blew himself up as worshippers began their prayers.

A second suicide bombing in western Ghor province on Friday struck a Sunni mosque, also during Friday prayers, and killed 33 people including a warlord who was apparently the target of the attack.

Abdul Hussain Naseri, a Shiite cleric, condemned the Kabul attack and said more security is needed for Shiite mosques in the city.