An explosion tore through a crowded mosque in western Afghanistan on Friday, killing at least 18 people. including a prominent cleric close to the Taliban, Taliban officials and a local medic said. At least 21 people were hurt. The explosion in the city of Herat left the courtyard of the Guzargah Mosque littered with bodies, the ground stained with blood, video from the scene showed. Men shouted, “God is great,” in shock and horror. Read:One year on, Afghans at risk await evacuation, relocation The bomb went off during Friday noon prayers, when mosques are full of worshippers. Among the dead was Mujib-ul Rahman Ansari, a prominent cleric who was known across Afghanistan for his criticism of the country’s Western-backed governments over the past two decades. Ansari was seen as close to the Taliban, who seized control over Afghanistan a year ago as foreign forces withdrew. His death was confirmed by the chief Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid. Just before the bombing, Ansari had been meeting in another part of the city with the Taliban government’s deputy prime minister, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was on a visit to Herat. He had rushed from the meeting to the mosque to get to the noon prayers, an aide to Baradar said in a tweet mourning the cleric. Ambulances transported 18 bodies and 21 people wounded from the blast to hospitals in Herat, said Mohammad Daud Mohammadi, an official at the Herat ambulance center, There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Friday’s blast. Read: Taliban: 2 civilians killed in a bomb blast in Afghanistan Last month, a bombing at a mosque in the capital Kabul targeted and killed a pro-Taliban cleric in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group. IS has waged a bloody campaign of attacks on Taliban targets and minority groups, particularly Shiites whom the extremist Sunni IS considers heretics. It has frequently hit mosques with suicide attacks during Friday prayers. Herat’s Guzargah Mosque, where Ansari has long been the preacher, draws followers of Sunni Islam, the dominant stream in Afghanistan that is also followed by the Taliban. Ansari was for years a thorn in the side of Afghanistan’s pro-Western government. In his sermons at the Guzargah, he urged his many supporters to carry out protests against the governments and preached against women’s rights.

A team of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Thursday pressed charges against 29 people in connection with the Narayanganj mosque blast case, which claimed the lives of 34 people.

The death toll from Narayanganj mosque blast rose to 34 after another victim died at Sheikh Hasina National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute on Tuesday morning.

A Narayanganj Court on Monday granted bail to eight suspended officials of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd in a case over the blasts at a mosque in Nayaranganj that left 33 people dead.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Sunday arrested an electrician for providing an illegal electric connection to Pashchim Talla Baitus Salat Mosque in Narayanganj where 33 people were killed in an AC blast.

A Narayanganj court on Saturday placed the eight suspended officials of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd, on two-day remand over the blasts at a mosque in Nayaranganj that left 33 people dead.

Another victim of Narayanganj mosque blast died at Sheikh Hasina National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute on Saturday afternoon taking the death toll to 33.

The Appellate Division has stayed the High Court’s order to pay TK 5 lakh to the families of each of the Narayanganj Mosque blast victims.

Eight officials of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd working at its Fatullah office were suspended on Monday in connection with the incident of air-conditioner blasts at a mosque in Nayaranganj.

BNP on Monday demanded an immediate inquiry through a high-level expert team to find out whether the recent explosion of ACs at a mosque in Narayanganj was an act of sabotage.