KABUL – The death toll from bombs planted outside a girls’ school in an area of the Afghan capital here populated largely by the Shia Hazara community has risen to 50, said the Interior Ministry today.
Ministry spokesman Tareq Arian told reporters that a car bomb detonated in front of the Sayed Al-Shuhada School yesterday, and when the students rushed out in panic, two more bombs exploded.
He said more than 100 people were wounded, with most of the victims being students.
No group has so far claimed the attack, but Afghan officials including President Ashraf Ghani have blamed the Taliban.
“The Taliban is behind this attack. It has carried out similar attacks on education institutions in the past,” said Arian.
The insurgents have denied involvement.
The explosions rocked the west Kabul district of Dasht-e-Barchi – a regular target of Sunni Islamist militants – as residents were out shopping ahead of next week’s Aidilfitri celebration, which marks the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy fasting month.
It comes as the United States military continues to pull out its last 2,500 troops from violence-wracked Afghanistan, despite faltering peace efforts between the Taliban and Afghan government to end a decades-long war. – AFP, May 9, 2021
