A bomb explosion in a mosque killed 19 and injured 52 in Afghan southern province of Kandahar in a mourning ceremony for a Muslim leader Wednesday morning, interior minister said. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

    KABUL, June 1 (Xinhuanet) -- A bomb explosion in a mosque killed 19 and injured 52 in Afghan southern province of Kandahar in a mourning ceremony for a Muslim leader Wednesday morning, interior minister said.

    "The suicide bombing has killed 19 persons including the police chief of Kabul, and injured 52 others," Ali Ahmad Jalali told journalists in a press conference in Afghan capital Kabul.

    "The suicide bomber is not a local Afghan," Jalali said without telling the nationality of the person.

    "Foreigners are behind every such kind of incident," he added.

    The ceremony was held in a mosque at about 9 a.m. (local time) Wednesday to show condolence for Monday's killing of Muslim leader Mawlavi Abdullah Fayaz in Kandahar.

    The commander of Afghan National Army (ANA) Muslim Hamid confirmed the explosion, but said the number of casualties was not so high. "About 10 persons were killed and about 15 injured," he told Xinhua.

    Afghan president Hamid Karzai Tuesday strongly criticized the killing of the Muslim leader, and on the same day 50 persons have been detained in Kandarhar on charge of involvement in the killing.

    As the chairman of Islamic Scholar Council, Fayaz is famous forhis strong attitude against Taliban with speeches frequently aboutgetting rid of Taliban from Afghanistan in that mosque.

    More than 20 persons including Fayaz was injured in a bomb explosion targeting the mosque where he prayed two years ago.

    Ousted from power in 2001, Taliban has raised another surge of attack against civilian and military targets as the weather gets warmer. More than 30 including militants, Afghan and US troops as well as aid workers have been killed in the troubled southern provinces over the past two weeks. Enditem