An unidentified gunman entered a mosque in western Afghanistan and fatally shot six people, a government spokesman stated on Tuesday.
Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesperson for the interior ministry, stated that the incident occurred on Monday evening around 9:00 pm local time in Herat province's Guzara district.
"Six civilians were martyred and one civilian was injured," said Qani in a post on the social media platform X early on Tuesday.
The Shia community reportedly worships at the mosque in Shahrak.
The Shia Muslim sect constitutes a minority in Afghanistan. Sectarian groups, such as the terrorist organisation ISIS*, whose regional affiliate ISKP (Islamic State Khorasan Province) has launched several attacks against Shias and other minorities in the nation in recent years, have repeatedly targeted them.
Earlier this month, a bombing near a Shia neighbourhood in the Afghan capital Kabul left one person dead and three injured. The attack was attributed to the ISIS.
The ISKP is the same ISIS affiliate that claimed responsibility for the attack at a concert in Moscow, Russia, last month.
ISIS has been fighting a violent insurgency against the Afghan state ever since the Taliban seized power in 2021 and toppled Ashraf Ghani's US-backed government.
ISIS has frequently targeted ethnic minorities such as Hazaras and religious minorities like Shia.
* Islamic State (ISIS or DAESH) is a terrorist banned in Russia and internationally by a UN Security Council resolution.