VIDEO: Daesh suicide bomber kills 55 at mosque in Afghanistan

Gulf Today Report

A suicide bomb attack on worshippers at a Shiite mosque in the Afghan city of Kunduz has killed at least 55 people in the bloodiest assault since US forces left the country in August.

Scores more victims from the minority community were wounded in Friday's blast, which was claimed by the Daesh group and appeared designed to further destabilise Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban takeover.

The powerful blast occurred in a Shiite mosque in Kunduz province during the Friday prayer service.

"It was a very terrifying incident," said a teacher in Kunduz, who lives near the mosque.

"Many of our neighbours have been killed and wounded. A 16-year-old neighbour was killed. They couldn't find half of his body."

Videos and photos on social media and elsewhere appear to show people searching the destroyed mosque and moving a worshipper's body from the gruesome scene to an ambulance.

Taliban chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the Shiite mosque was the target and that a "large number” of worshippers were killed and wounded.

He said Taliban special forces had arrived to the scene and were investigating the incident.

Afghan men carry the dead body of a victim after a bomb attack at a mosque in Kunduz on Friday. AFP

Witnesses in the area said they were praying when they heard the explosion.

The cause was not immediately clear.

The Taliban leadership has been grappling with a growing threat from the local Daesh affiliate.

Daesh militants have ramped up attacks to target their rivals, including two deadly bombings in Kabul.

Daesh has also targeted Afghanistan’s religious minorities in attacks.