Suicide bomber kills 25 in Kabul as Afghans celebrate New Year

A suicide attack outside a mosque in Kabul killed at least 25 people and left 18 wounded, the Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman said.

The explosion, near a Shi’ite shrine in the west of Kabul, came at a time when people were celebrating the Nawruz holiday marking the start of the Persian new year.

The attacker was spotted by police before he entered a large gathering for the Norouz celebration in Kabul's Shakhi mosque, Mohammad Salem Almas, head of criminal investigations in the Kabul police, told the media.

The attacker detonated the explosives that he was carrying before entering the mosque, Almas said.

No terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Afghanistan is home to a powerful Islamic State affiliate that has repeatedly targeted Shiites, who the Sunni extremists view as apostates deserving of death.