Afghanistan: deadly explosion near a school in Kabul
Men try to identify corpses after a bomb exploded near a school west of Kabul on May 8, 2021. AP - Rahmat Gul
Text by: RFI Follow
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At least 30 dead and around 50 injured, according to the Interior Ministry.
This is the result of the explosion that occurred this Saturday afternoon in front of a school in Kabul, in the west of the city.
The cause of the explosion is currently unknown.
The Taliban deny any involvement.
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The attack took place in one of the poorest areas of Dasht-e-Artchi, a neighborhood in western Kabul where a majority of Hazaras, the Shiite minority of Afghanistan, live.
It was the Sayed Shuhada school that was targeted when the young girls were in class.
In Afghanistan, schools are not mixed, boys and girls do not go to school at the same time.
The Hazaras are regularly targeted by the Islamic State group,
There were three explosions, says our correspondent in Kabul,
Sonia Ghezali.
A witness at the scene told a journalist that he stopped the driver of a car parked near the school. “
The man was shaking. I asked him what he was doing here and he told me to mind my own business.
This witness, accompanied by his two little daughters, explains that he hurried away. He was about fifty meters from the car when it exploded. While dozens of students rushed outside the building, trying to flee the scene, a second and then a third explosion took place.
Witnesses on the spot say the ground was covered in blood, body parts torn off, amid dozens of lifeless bodies and wounded moaning.
The sidewalk is covered with school books, satchels and many white veils worn by schoolgirls in Afghanistan.
Three hours after the explosions, there were still no members of the security services on site, said a witness.
The residents of the neighborhood themselves formed a human chain to create a security cordon around the scene as ambulances evacuated the victims.
"
The people there are furious and attacked the ambulance men,
" lamented the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Dastagir Nazari.
An investigation for "terrorist attack" has been opened, said deputy interior ministry spokesman Hamid Roshan.
The explosion comes as the United States and Europeans called on Friday for an "
immediate
" and "
no preconditions
"
resumption
of
negotiations
in Afghanistan, accusing the Taliban of inflicting violence during the withdrawal of foreign forces 20 years after their withdrawal. deployment and block the peace process.
Authorities in Kabul fear an upsurge in violence.
The Taliban, driven from power at the end of 2001 by the American intervention, recently intensified their attacks across the country, according to the Afghan authorities.
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Read also: Afghanistan: the withdrawal of American soldiers begins 20 years after their arrival
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Afghanistan
Taliban
Terrorism