At least seven people were killed and 12 others were wounded in an attack by armed men on worshippers at a mosque in Parwan on Tuesday, the provincial police chief Haroon Mubariz said.
According to police, the attack happened in Khalal Zayee village, and all of the victims are civilians.
Muariz said the attack happened in an area that is under Taliban influence.
Taliban in a statement denied involvement in the attack.
The attack is one of many amid a dramatic surge in violence as the country attempts to navigate through a fraught peace process mapped out in late February between the US and the Taliban.
The Afghan National Security and Defense Forces have faced major attacks by the Taliban in several areas, including Kunduz city.
Last Tuesday, gunmen stormed a maternity hospital in Kabul and a funeral ceremony in the eastern province of Nangarhar, killing dozens of civilians.
The attack on the Kabul maternity hospital killed 24 people, including women and newborn babies. The Taliban denied involvement in the hospital and funeral attacks, but the Afghan government is publically holding the Taliban responsible for being behind them.
On Tuesday, Afghanistan’s security chiefs briefed lawmakers in the Afghan Parliament where they said that the recent terrorist attacks in Kabul and other provinces indicated Taliban involvement.
The three security chiefs – the acting head of the National Directorate of Security, Ahmad Zia Saraj, the acting minister of interior affairs, Massoud Andarabi, and the army chief of staff, Gen. Bismillah Waziri– received criticism by MPs for their apparent inability to ensure the safety of the people and prevent deadly attacks, such as the ones at the Kabul hospital and the Nangarhar funeral that claimed dozens of civilian lives.
“Pakistan is under pressure for harboring Taliban leadership. The Taliban is trying to capture two to three provinces so they can transfer their leadership here in order to ease pressure on Pakistan,” the acting head of the National Directorate of Security, Ahmad Zia Saraj, said.
A week ago, President Ashraf Ghani, in response to recent attacks in different parts of the country that killed dozens of civilians and security force members, ordered the Afghan forces to switch from “active defensive” mode to “offensive” mode, and to resume attacks on the Taliban.
Also on Monday night, Ghani in a meeting with members of the special forces of the Afghan National Police (ANP) said his administration cannot remain “indifferent” to those killing children.
Ghani was apparently referring to last week’s attack on a maternity hospital in Kabul where gunmen massacred at least 24 people, including women and newborn babies.
Earlier in the day, the UN mission in Afghanistan called on the warring factions to stop violence and protect civilians under international law.
