On Friday, a suicide bomber targeted an education centre in the Kabul where hundreds of students were studying for university examinations, killing at least 20 individuals the most of them were young women.
The incident occurred in western Kabul’s Dasht-e-Barchineighbourhood, a primarily Shiite Muslim enclave home to the minority Hazara group and the site of some of Afghanistan’s deadliest attacks.
According to student Ali Irfani, who fled the carnage, the bomber killed two security officers before accessing the gender-segregated classroom.
“Because they were at the back of the classroom, not many boys hit.” “The bomber came in through the front door, where girls were sitting,” he explained.
Another student witness, Akbar, stated that the majority of the deaths were young ladies with up to 600 people in the hall at the time.No one group has claimed responsibility for the explosion at Kaaj Higher Educational Centre, which prepares students for university entrance exams.
Islamic State of organization in Kabul
However, past attacks in the area have been claimed by the terrorist Islamic State organization, which targeted girls, schools, mosques, and a maternity centre. A resident who drove victims to hospitals reported seeing body parts sprawled throughout the hall’s floor. “Many students struck in the head, neck, and eyes by shrapnel,” Asadullah Jahangir stated.
According to Kabul police official Khalid Zadran, 19 people were murdered and 27 others were injured. According to a local shopkeeper, there was a loud explosion followed by a rush of students out of the centre. “It was chaos as many kids, both boys and girls, attempted to flee the building.” It was a horrifying sight. “Everyone terrified,” he explained, demanding anonymity.
The Italian NGO Emergency, which maintains a hospital in Kabul, reported 22 patients, including 20 women, two of whom died. “The victims are all between the ages of 18 and 25, and the majority of them were in the classroom to take an exam,” the school said in a statement.
Taliban’s ineptitude and utter failure
The attack on Friday is a “shamefaced reminder of the Taliban’s ineptitude and utter failure. As de facto rulers, to safeguard the people of Afghanistan,” said Samira Hamidi of the rights group Amnesty International in a statement.
In addition, Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, denounced the attack. “The assault on education for Hazaras and Shiites must stop.” Stop attacking Afghanistan’s future, and stop international crimes,” he tweeted.
Moreover, Families hurried to hospitals on Friday as ambulances arrived carrying bodies, and lists of those confirmed dead or injured placed on the walls. “We didn’t find her here,” said a distraught woman searching for her sister at one of the hospitals. “She was 19 at the time. We’ve called her, but she hasn’t returned our calls.”
In the meantime, Pakistan has denounced the incident. “The government and people of Pakistan express their profound and heartfelt sympathies to the lost families and pray for the quick recovery of the injured,” stated the Foreign Ministry in a statement. “We stand in complete solidarity with our Afghan brothers and sisters in their fight against the evil of terrorism,” the statement continued.
