ISLAMABAD —A suicide bomber hit a Shiite mosque in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar during Friday prayers killing at least 32 people, according to a local health official.

       The explosion targeted Emam Bargha Ptima mosque, which is located in an area of the city dominated by Shiites.

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       Hafiz Abdul Hai Abbas, the director for provincial health directorate, told The Washington Post that the attack also wounded 45 others. “Dead bodies remain under the ruined mosque,” Abbas said, adding that he expected the death toll to rise.

       The Taliban said it had sent special forces members to the site to investigate.

       Footage from inside the mosque showed several bloodies bodies on the ground, some covered in sheets, while onlookers wailed.

       The attack comes a week after an Islamic State suicide bomber attacked a crowded mosque during Friday prayers in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan, killing nearly 50 Shiite Muslim worshipers and wounding dozens more.

       The extremist Islamic State group views followers of the Shiite sect of Islam as heretics and often targets their places of worship.

       Cheung reported from London.