The Islamic State (Isil) has claimed responsibility for a coordinated attack by gunmen and suicide bombers on Iran’s parliament and the the shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of the Iranian Revolution.

Teams of attackers struck the two sites in Tehran early on Wednesday morning, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens of others, according to Iranian state media. If confirmed that Isil was behind the attack, it would be their most ambitious operation yet against Iran.

One suicide bomber blew themselves up at the Khomeini shrine, which is highly symbolic for Iran’s theocratic leadership. A second bomber later detonated their explosives at the parliament during a stand off with security forces.

Isil’s Amaq news agency released a short statement soon after the attacks saying: “Fighters from the Islamic State attacked the shrine of Khomeini and the Iranian parliament building in the centre of Tehran.”

The jihadist group claimed credit with unusual speed and released a video of the attackers inside the parliament building. </s> The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group claimed responsibility behind the deadly suicide attack on a mosque in Kabul city.

The group issued a statement in Arabic via its media wing ‘Amaq’ news agency and claimed that the attack was carried out by its suicide bomber on a Shi’ite mosque in the city.

The Taliban militants group earlier rejected that the group is involved in the attack.

At least 32 people were killed and 85 others were wounded after the suicide bomber detonated his explosives among the worshipers in Baqir-ul-Olum mosque in west of Kabul city this afternoon.

The officials in public health ministry confirmed that 85 people wounded in the attack were taken to hospitals for treatment.

This is the second deadly attack the ISIS terrorist group is claiming responsibility for within the past one and half month.

At least 18 people were killed and 36 others were wounded after a group of gunmen belonging to ISIS terrorist group stormed into Sakhi shrine in Kabul city last month.

The attack on Sakhi shrine was carried out as hundreds of mourners had gathered in the area to observe the Ashura day.

The group earlier claimed the attack on a major demonstration in Kabul that left at least 85 rally participants dead and scores of others wounded.

Follow Khaama Press (KP) | Afghan News Agency on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook. Stay updated via RSS </s> As families and friends mourn the loss of those killed in an attack on a military hospital in Kabul, Afghan officials launched an investigation on those responsible for the assault.

Gunmen dressed in white lab coats stormed the Sardar Daud Khan hospital in the centre of the capital on Wednesday, firing shots, detonating explosives and then battling security forces for hours. The assault resulted in the death of more than 40 people.

The Afghan interior ministry and the defence ministry on Thursday announced a probe into a claim by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) armed group that it was behind the attack.

“We are assessing Daesh claims to yesterday’s attack, but at this stage we can’t make a prejudgment prior to conclusion of investigation,” Sediq Sediqqi, the spokesperson of the Afghan ministry of interior said in a tweet, using an Arabic acronym for ISIL, also known as ISIS.

“Brutal terrorist groups like ISIS (ISIL), Taliban, Haqqani and many other regional terrorist networks with safe havens in Pakistan have been behind many horrific attacks in the past,” he added.

The Afghan Taliban, which attacked the Sardar Daud Khan hospital in 2013 killing six people, denied responsibility for Wednesday’s assault.

According to US military officials, ISIL has about 700 fighters in Afghanistan. The group has previously claimed responsibility for a number of attacks that resulted in a large number of casualties, including a twin suicide bombing at a protest march in Kabul last year that left at least 80 people dead.

As reports emerged of ISIL’s claim of responsibility, some analysts said the group does not have the capacity to conduct an attack of this magnitude.

“[ISIL] is still trying to gain a foothold in the east of the country,” Inayatullah Kakar, an Afghan security and political analyst, told a foreign news publication.

“ISIL does exist in Afghanistan, but for them to conduct an attack like this in an area that is heavily guarded and with this calibre that killed so many people, it doesn’t seem possible, as they are still trying to gain territories in eastern Afghanistan, while fighting the Taliban.”

The UN Security Council also denounced the attack in a statement released on Thursday and urged the international community to cooperate with the Afghan government to bring those responsible to justice and to suppress the financing of “terrorism”.

The death toll has risen to 49 with dozens wounded, a senior health official said on Thursday.

Salim Rassouli, director of Kabul hospitals, said 49 people had been killed in the attack on the Sardar Mohammad Khan military hospital on Wednesday, with at least 63 wounded.

Some uncertainty remained over the exact figure and one security official said more than 90 people had been wounded. Earlier estimates had put the number of dead at more than 30 with 50 wounded.

Gunmen went through the 400-bed hospital, shooting doctors, patients and visitors and battling security forces for several hours in a sophisticated operation claimed by Islamic State.
ISIL claims responsibility for the attack; however, authorities contend it is not terror related.