The attack on an educational facility for girls in Kabul was apparently much bloodier than the ruling Taliban have so far admitted.

The UN mission UNAMA is now assuming at least 53 fatalities and 110 injuries.

The Taliban had only confirmed 25 fatalities so far, but the American news agency AP has already identified 52 of the dead, most of them girls or young women between the ages of 17 and 20, it says.

Alexander Haneke

Editor in Politics.

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This makes the attack the bloodiest since the final withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.

An assassin attacked the Kaaj Higher Educational Center in western Kabul on Friday morning, while preparatory exams for university entrance exams were being held there.

Since the Islamist Taliban took power over a year ago, schools for girls above sixth grade have been closed, but both sexes are still allowed to study at universities, albeit with major restrictions for women.

For many girls who are no longer able to attend normal school classes, courses in private institutions are one of the few educational opportunities.

According to eyewitnesses cited by the AP, gunfire rang out on Friday morning before a violent explosion rocked the Kaaj Higher Educational Center, located in a predominantly Hazara neighborhood in western Kabul.

In recent years, the Shia Hazara have repeatedly been the victims of bloody attacks, often by the Afghan branch of "Islamic State", which is at enmity with the Taliban and regards Shia Muslims as "infidels".

So far, no one has claimed responsibility for Friday's attack.

Are the Hazara not allowed to protect themselves?

While the Pashtun-dominated Taliban profess to treat all Afghans equally under their rule, many Hazara complain of political exclusion, discrimination and a lack of protection, making them easy targets for terrorist groups.

A professor at a Hazara university told the FAZ in the summer that efforts had been made for months to get the Taliban government to allow the guards at the facility to carry weapons.

But the application is repeatedly delayed, even though private security guards with assault rifles are part of everyday life in Afghanistan.

Even a year after taking power, the Taliban are trying to keep other ethnic groups away from guns.

But dealing with the number of victims on Friday shows that Afghanistan's new rulers apparently have no interest in the true dimensions of the bloody attack on the young women becoming public.

And probably not just because it would lead to the question of why the threatened Hazara enjoy virtually no protection.

Above all, every major attack calls into question the Islamists' promise to finally ensure security and stability in the country after decades of violence and civil war.

For many Afghans, despite all the hardships that come with the repressive rule of the Taliban, this is an argument for those in power.