The second incident took place in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif, where a bomb was affixed to a bicycle that exploded near a mosque shortly after the Kabul blast.

Hundreds of Afghans had gathered to commemorate Ashura, the day on which Husayn ibn Ali the grandson of Muhammad along with 72 followers were murdered in Kerbala, Iraq.

[8] According to the statement released by Interior Ministry, a man wearing suicide vest blew himself up inside the shrine where Shi'ite mourners were observing the martyrdom of Hussayn.

"[21] In June 2012, two men from Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan named Rahim Gul and Habibullah confessed to transporting the suicide bomber from Peshawar, Pakistan.

The Attorney General of Afghanistan, Mohammad Ishaq Aloko, stated that "The attack was planned and organized in Peshawar and executed on the holy day."

He said "the bombing was an attempt to create division between Afghan Sunni and Shiite Muslims", and alleged that "the Pakistani intelligence service was involved in the attack.