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- CORRESPONDENTS
Kabul, Afghanistan
Reuters
Three explosions at a high school in west Kabul have killed at least six people and injured a number of students, Afghan security and health officials said.
Many residents of the neighborhood belong to the Shia Hazara community, an ethnic and religious minority frequently targeted by Sunni militant groups, including the Islamic State.
“Three explosions took place (…) in a high school, there are victims among our Shiite people”, declared Khalid Zadran, the spokesman of the commander of Kabul.
He later said six people were killed and 11 injured in the blasts.
The head of a hospital nursing department, who requested anonymity, said at least four people were killed and 14 injured in the blasts.
Another medical center, the Emergency Hospital, said it received a corpse and 10 teenagers injured in the blasts.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which followed a lull in violence over the cold winter months and after the withdrawal of foreign forces last year.
Afghan Taliban leaders say they have secured the country since taking power in August, but international officials and analysts say the risk of a resurgence in militancy remains and the Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for several attacks.
An official familiar with the matter who declined to be named said the explosive devices were hidden in backpacks and one was detonated inside the school gates.
Chris Nyamandi, country director of the humanitarian group Save the Children in Afghanistan, condemned the explosion.
“Save the Children is outraged and strongly condemns the reported attack on a high school today in Kabul. We are deeply saddened by reports that children have been injured and even killed in the blasts,” he said. said in a statement.
Successive administrations have failed to curb deadly attacks on the Hazara minority in west Kabul, including at mosques, a maternity hospital and schools in recent years. Last May, a huge explosion outside a local girls’ high school killed at least 80 people, most of them students.
