Mosque bomb kills Afghan cleric

The Taleban have been blamed by police for the bomb blast

A leading Muslim cleric has been killed and 16 people hurt by a bomb detonated in a mosque in south-east Afghanistan.

Pro-government cleric, Maulvi Ahmed Khan, was about to lead afternoon prayers when the remote controlled device was detonated, police say.

Police chief, Mohammed Ayub, blamed the Taleban for the blast in Tani district, 25km (18 miles) south of Khost.

More than 1,200 people have been killed in violence linked to militancy in Afghanistan this year.

No one has yet said they carried out the attack.

Summer attacks

Mullah Khan was a member of the powerful pro-government provincial clerics' council, the ulema.

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He was a few minutes from leading prayers to a packed Ramadan gathering when the device exploded in the space reserved for the imam.

Six of those hurt are seriously injured, police said.

Mr Ayub said a search was underway for the bombers.

The Taleban were blamed for attacks on pro-government clerics in the summer which left four dead.

Two clerics in Kandahar and one each in Helmand and Paktika were killed.

On 1 June in Kandahar, 20 people were killed and 40 injured when a suicide bomber targeted a mosque where mourners had gathered for a service for murdered cleric Mawlavi Abdullah Fayaz, who was killed by gunmen earlier in the week.