Dozens killed at at Friday prayers as blast rocks mosque in eastern Afghanistan

Dozens have been killed while attending Friday prayers at a mosque in eastern Afghanistan when a large blast rocked the religious gathering.

Afghan officials said at least 62 had been killed and 36 others wounded in the mortar attack which caused the roof to collapse on the dozens gathered inside the mosque in the Haskamena district of Nagarhar province.

Attahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor, says there were children among the dead and wounded.

The attack caused the roof to collapse on the dozens gathered inside the mosque.

No one immediately claimed the attack, but the Taliban and Isis are active in eastern Afghanistan, especially Nangarhar province.

In western Herat province, six civilians including four children were killed when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb, said Jelani Farhad, spokesman for the provincial governor.

Mr Farhad added that five other civilians were wounded in the attack in the Zawal district.

The violence comes a day after a United Nations report said Afghan civilians are dying in record numbers in the increasingly brutal war, noting that more civilians died in July than in any previous one-month period since the UN began keeping statistics.

The report said 2,563 civilians were killed and 5,676 were wounded in the first nine months of this year. Insurgents were responsible for 62%. July to September were the deadliest months so far this year.

It also said said pro-government forces caused 2,348 civilian casualties, including 1,149 killed and 1,199 wounded, a 26 per cent increase from the same period in 2018.

Additional reporting by AP