Kabul mosque blast is 'a reminder': NGO hospital

STORY: The explosion that hit a mosque in Kabul on Wednesday has killed at least 21 people and wounded another 33, according to police.

Video obtained by Reuters shows Taliban guarding the site.

On Thursday (August 18), family members of the victims gathered at a Kabul hospital specializing in war wounds.

Mohammad Qaseem witnessed the explosion. He says people were at the mosque for evening prayers when it happened, and he saw many injured or martyred.

Two of his family are among the wounded, he says, he brought to the hospital.

The hospital, run by an Italian NGO, is reporting that it had nine children and teenagers among the wounded.

Dejan Panic and Stefano Sozza are the hospital's medical coordinator and country director:

PANIC: "It's a reminder that this hospital is very much needed, the war as much as it's publicized that it's finished, that there is peace in Afghanistan, still there is something going on. It's not my place to comment why and who is responsible for it but definitely there's people, civilians are getting injured and they're suffering and they're dying from bullets, shrapnel. It's evident."

SOZZA: "If we keep running at this pace it's going to be complicated. So we are a bit worried, we are trying to discharge patients who are not in severe need, but the need is still big."

There's no immediate claim of responsibility and authorities haven't publicly assigned blame.

The Taliban say they're restoring security to the war-torn country, and it has seen an overall drop in violence since the group took over and defeated the U.S.-backed government a year ago.

However, several large attacks have taken place in urban centers in recent months, some of which were claimed by Islamic State.