Afghan governor among 12 killed in blast (Lead, changing dateline)

KUNDUZ - The governor of the northern Afghan province of Kunduz and at least 11 other worshippers were killed Friday when a bomb hidden inside a mosque exploded, officials said.

Mohammad Omar was attending Friday prayers in Taliqan, the capital of the neighbouring province of Takhar, when the blast took place, said Faiz Mohammad Tauhidi, spokesman for the governor of Takhar.

Tauhidi said that 12 worshippers, including Omar, were killed in the attack and 20 other people were injured. A tribal elder and the imam of the mosque were among those killed, he added.

But Shah Jahan Noori, the provincial police chief who was taking part in an anti-insurgent operation in Khwaja Bahauddin district, put the death toll at 15, including the governor.

“I assume that the governor was the prime target of the attack,” Noori told DPA by phone.

No group immediately took responsibility for the attack.

Omar had survived several attacks in the past, including a roadside bomb against his convoy in late July. Omar’s brother, district police chief Noor Khan, was killed in a Taliban attack last year.