Suicide bomber strikes Afghan mosque

(Vatican Radio) Officials in northern Afghanistan say a suicide bomb attack on a mosque has killed at least 40 people and wounded dozens of others.

Authorities say the bomber struck the mosque in Maymana, the capital of Faryab province, on Friday, at the start of the four-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. Officials say casualties included members of Afghanistan's security forces.

The explosion came as President Hamid Karzai delivered a speech in Kabul marking the Eid holiday.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but suicide bombings are a favorite weapon of Taliban Islamists trying to topple the Western-backed government of President Karzai.

German Brigadier General Gunter Katz, chief coalition military spokesman in Afghanistan, says this attack shows the insurgency is growing increasingly desperate.

Listen to Nathan Morley’s report: