Photo Mourners carrying the coffins of victims of an attack on Tuesday on a mosque in Herat, Afghanistan, that killed 37. The Islamic State claimed responsibility. Credit Agence France-Presse Getty Images

KABUL, Afghanistan When the Afghan female robotics team, made up of teenage students from the western city of Herat, finally made it to a global competition in the United States, the cameras were focused on them. Here was a glimmer of hope from a place so often associated with bloodshed. The girls had made it against all odds, including being denied visas twice.

With a big smile, Fatemah Qaderyan, 14, the team captain, illustrated just how far girls, even from a challenging place like Afghanistan, could go if given the opportunity. Crucial to that, she repeated, was the support of her parents.

Tuesday night, Fatemahs father, Mohammed Asef Qaderyan, 54, was killed when suicide bombers targeted hundreds of worshipers at a mosque near their home in the city of Herat.

Roya Mahboob, an Afghan technology entrepreneur who helped arrange the teams trip to the United States, confirmed the news of the death. Jailani Farhad, a spokesman for the governor of Herat, also said that Mr. Qaderyan had been among those killed.

The assault, for which the Islamic State claimed responsibility, left 37 people dead and 66 others wounded. It was the fifth attack this year against Shiite places of worship, killing at least 44 civilians and wounding 88, according to the United Nations mission in Afghanistan. Four of those attacks took place in Herat Province, and one took place in Kabul. The regional branch of the Islamic State claimed responsibility for two of them.

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Father of Afghan Robotics Team Captain Is Killed in Suicide Bombing - New York Times