At least seven people were killed and 15 more wounded when an Islamic State suicide bomber attacked a minority Shiite mosque in northern Afghanistan on Friday, the Taliban government said.

The blast rang out as Shiite worshippers gathered for Friday prayers at the Imam Zaman mosque in Pol-i-Khomri, the capital of Baghlan province.

"As a result of a suicide attack… seven Shiite compatriots died, and 15 others were injured," provincial information and media chief Mustafa Asadullah Hashimi said in a statement.

The IS claimed responsibility for the attack.

An IS fighter "reached the center of the gathering… and then blew up his explosive belt," a statement from the jihadists' Amaq News Agency said.

A source at Baghlan Provincial Hospital — who asked to remain anonymous — put the casualty tally higher, saying 19 bodies and 40 wounded patients had been brought to the facility so far.

"Some of the dead and wounded were taken to other private hospitals as well," he told Agence France-Presse.

The regional chapter of IS has a history of targeting Shiites they consider heretics.

The Taliban and IS share an austere Sunni ideology, however, Kabul's new rulers have pledged to protect ethnic and religious minorities.

IS is also crusading to establish a global "caliphate" — Islamic empire — instead of the Taliban's more modest goal of ruling an independent Afghanistan with formal ties to other countries.

Since the Taliban returned to government, IS has staged attacks on diplomatic missions in Kabul, and ministry buildings, as well as assassinated two provincial governors.

WITH AFP