Kabul: At least 15 people were killed and 50 others sustained injuries after a blast occurred on Thursday near the funeral of the former deputy governor (acting governor) of Badakhshan in Badakhshan province, TOLOnews reported citing a local official.

The blast occurred in a mosque in Faizabad, Badakhshan province, Afghanistan.

Mazuddin Ahmadi, Taliban's head of Badakhshan's communications and cultural department, also confirmed to TOLOnews that the explosion occurred in Faizabad, the state capital.

According to locals, the explosion struck the Nabawi mosque in the Hesa-e-Awal area of Faizabad.

The incident drew strong reactions from Afghan officials. According to Ahmadi, the actual number of casualties in this incident is yet to be determined.

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai strongly denounced the attack on the Nabawi mosque in the Hesa-e Awal neighbourhood of Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan province, in a tweet.

In a tweet, Karzai labelled it as an act of "terrorism", "against human and Islamic standards" while conveying his condolences to the afflicted families, as per TOLOnews.

On Tuesday, Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi, the deputy governor of Afghanistan's Badakhshan province, was killed along with his driver in a vehicle bombing, leaving six people injured.

The Taliban deputy governor and his driver were slain in an incident claimed by the Islamic State.