Afghanistan: at least 30 dead, 79 injured in explosion near women’s school

The persecuted Hazara Shiite minority in Afghanistan was again attacked in Kabul on Saturday, which left at least 30 dead and about 80 injured, by the explosion of a bomb at the entrance of a high school for girls.

The explosion occurred in the early afternoon in the region of Dasht-e-Barchi in the west of the city, in front of the entrance door of the Sayed-ul-Shuhada girls’ high school, just as the girls were leaving the classrooms.

“The death toll rose to 30”Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said in a statement.

In addition the the wounded also rose to 79, who were admitted to several hospitals, explained the spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Health, Dastagir Nazari, who assured that “Many of the injured and dead are children.”

“Several wounded are in critical condition and our doctors are trying to save them», Dijo Nazari.

the images of the attack quickly began to flood social media, in which minors are seen on the ground with burns in front of what appears to be the main door of the education center, in addition to other bloody children being treated in a hospital.

“Our kids don’t deserve this. No child deserves this. It’s international terrorism “famous Afghan activist Wazhma Frogh lamented on Twitter.

The attack took place in a area inhabited mainly by the Shiite Hazara minority, a common target of Islamist attacks, such as the one that took place last October in this neighborhood against another educational center, which left 24 dead and 57 injured.

On this occasion, the epidemic occurred when the security guards of the center identified “a kamikaze on foot”, who detonated the explosives he was carrying when he was refused entry.

A year ago, in this same neighborhood, a maternity in which 16 people died, including, according to the authorities at the time, “two newborns, mothers of newborns and midwives, who were slaughtered”.

Taliban and Islamic State

Although today’s attack has yet to be claimed, everything seems to point to the jihadist group The Islamic State (ISIS, for its acronym in English), which often claims this type of attack against the Hazara, whom it considers to be apostates.

The Taliban, who distanced themselves from attack in a statement, condemned attack on civilians, and blamed “the dark circles which, in the name of ISIS, operate under the wings and cover of the Kabul administration’s intelligence services.”

However, at a crossroads of accusations, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani directly blamed the Taliban in another statement, which “by stepping up their illegitimate war has shown once again that they are not just willing to end the current crisis by peaceful means, but rather to complicate the situation. by sabotaging the present opportunity for peace ”.

The president described this action as “a crime against humanity and Islamic principles “and said the Taliban, even in this holy month of Ramadan, does not prevent the slaughter of civilians,” mercilessly attacking public places and girls’ schools. “

Before what happened Ghani ordered the security forces to “respond” forcefully to this Taliban action.

Increase in violence in Afghanistan

Today’s attack occurs when the Levels of violence have increased in the country, especially over the past week, following the May 1 deadline that the Taliban agreed with the United States in February last year in Doha. for foreign troops to leave Afghanistan.

However, the The new US administration has postponed the withdrawal date to September 11, two decades after the jihadist attacks that sparked the American invasion of Afghanistan shortly thereafter, they overthrew the Taliban.

So in the last 24 hours at least 250 Taliban were killed and 106 wounded in fighting with Afghan troops in nine of the country’s 34 provinces, the Defense Ministry reported.

It’s him the highest number of insurgent casualties in 24 hours in two years in Afghanistan, This shows how much the conflict in the country has escalated despite successive attempts to move the stalled peace talks forward.

Also, during the last week, “About a thousand Taliban fighters were killed and wounded, including some key commanders of the group”Acting Defense Minister Yasin Zia said at a press conference in Kabul.

The minister assured that it is “Counterattacks” in an attempt to recover areas they had lost in recent days to the Taliban, although the advance of the Afghan security forces is slow, he said, because the insurgents are sheltering in houses and using civilians as human shields.

With information from EFE

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