A bomb blast near a girls’ school in Kabul has killed at least 50 people, the interior ministry has said. At least 100 people were injured, and among the victims were 11- and 15-year-old schoolgirls who were killed on their way out of school.
The Taliban denied any involvement and condemned the tragedy. The new bloodbath comes just weeks after US President Joe Biden announced that US troops would leave the country by 9/11.
A bomb blast near a girls’ school in Kabul’s predominantly Shiite district of Kabul has killed at least 50 people, the Afghan Interior Ministry has said.
Ministry spokesman Tarek Arian told reporters that a trapped car exploded in front of the Sajed Al-Suhada school on Saturday and that two more bombs exploded as schoolgirls rushed out of the school in panic. In the morning the school is open for boys and in the afternoon for girls.
He added that there are more than 100 injured and that most of the victims are schoolgirls . An eyewitness told Reuters that all but seven or eight of the victims were schoolgirls returning home after school.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has blamed the Taliban. “The Taliban are behind these attacks. “They have already carried out similar attacks on schools in the past,” Arian said.
However, the Taliban have denied involvement in such attacks. The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a Shi’ite mosque in the western part of the Afghan capital, Dast-e-Barsi. Shiite Khazars are often targeted by Sunni Islamist organizations.
The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a gathering of protesters, as the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr approaches, marking the end of the Ramadan fasting month.
The attacks come as the US military continues to withdraw its last 2,500 troops from Afghanistan, leaving behind a country torn apart by a 20-year conflict.
In the capital, which is often rocked by bombings, Saturday’s attack was one of the worst. Criticism has grown over the lack of security and growing fears of even more violence as the US and NATO complete their final military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Washington has blamed Islamic State for a violent attack on a maternity hospital in the same area last year that killed pregnant women and newborns.
Islamic State has lost power in Afghanistan, according to government and US officials, but has stepped up its attacks, particularly on Shiite Muslims and women workers.
The United States and Europeans have previously called for an “immediate” and “unconditional” resumption of talks in Afghanistan , accusing the Taliban of resorting to violence during the withdrawal of foreign forces and blocking the peace process.
Direct talks between the Kabul government and the Taliban began in Qatar in September, but are moving too slowly. A special conference was scheduled for late April in Turkey to boost negotiations, but had to be postponed indefinitely due to the Taliban’s refusal to participate, protesting the delay in defining the US withdrawal, which was originally postponed. former President Donald Trump for May 1.
Clashes have been raging since the beginning of the withdrawal, especially in the southern province of Helmand . US planes have helped repel a major Taliban offensive that has forced thousands of Afghans to flee their homes to escape violence in the Lashkar Gah area.
