Tannuka Juneja
Three explosions rocked a high school in western Kabul on Tuesday, killing at least six people and injuring 11, according to Afghan police officials. The blasts happened at the Abdul Rahim Shahid school in the Shia-dominated west of the city. The number of dead and wounded is likely to rise.
According to BBC, A nearby tuition centre was also targeted in a grenade attack.
Students were leaving morning classes when the blasts happened, one witness told the AFP news agency.
“Three blasts have taken place… in a high school, there are some casualties to our Shia people,” said Khalid Zadran, the spokesman for Kabul’s commander.
The head of a hospital nursing department, who declined to be named, said at least four people had been killed and 14 wounded in the blasts.
In May last year, at least 85 people, mostly children, were killed in a bombing at the Sayed Al Shuhada school in the same area. ISIS-linked groups in the country have killed hundreds of Afghans from different communities in recent years, but have singled out the Shiite Hazara minority, killing dozens in attacks targeting mosques and schools.
Both UNICEF and UN Human Rights condemn the attacks and appealed to protect children at all times.
#Afghanistan: We strongly condemn deadly attacks near a boys’ school in a Kabul suburb, home to Hazara Shia families.
Attacks on schools+children are despicable, they must be investigated & those responsible must be held to account in line with intl norms & standards. pic.twitter.com/H8hPEzokWD
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) April 19, 2022
The Taliban say they have secured the country since taking power in August, but international officials and analysts say that the risk of a resurgence in terrorism remains and the Islamic State militant group has claimed several major attacks.
