Around 30 Taliban fighters who were practising making bombs in Afghanistan have accidentally blown themselves up, according to reports.
The incident took place around 9:15am on Sunday (local time) in the Dawlat Abad district, which lies north-west of Kabul, Arab News reported.
But in a post to social media, Afghanistan's Ministry of Defence claimed it occurred in a different area.
"30 #Taliban fighters including six foreign terrorists were killed in a bomb explosion in #Balkh province," it said.
"The blast happened in a mosque in Dawlat-Abad district while the terrorists were training in making bombs."
Ministry spokesperson Fawad Aman told Arab News there were no survivors from the blast, which he described as the "deadliest of its kind".
"In the past, the enemies would have suffered like six, eight or 10 people while either planting a bomb or making a mine, but this is the first time they suffered such heavy losses," he said.
However, in a phone call with the publication, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the explosion but denied any deaths.
Mujahid said that the explosion had occurred in a room used for storing ammunition and "not today as reported by government officials".
"But we strongly reject the report of deaths, there was no single casualty. And in the morning time, the enemy's planes came for bombarding the room. A mosque nearby was also partially damaged."
The Afghan Army's 209th Shaheen Corps confirmed that a mosque was affected in a post to Facebook.
"In a mosque in Balkh, 30 Taliban were killed in an explosion of their mine.
"The incident was so powerful that the faces of foreign citizens were not recognizable."
