In Dasht-e-Barchi, a mostly Shia-Hazara neighborhood of Kabul, two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) exploded, targeting a male educational institution, the Abdul Rahim Shaheed High School, killing at least six people and injuring 17 others on 19th April.
According to authorities, among those killed in the bombings, there were also students; the blasts happened as kids were leaving class after the morning lessons. The first one detonated inside the school. According to Reuters, following the informative statement of an official whose name was not disclosed, explosive devices were hidden in backpacks and one detonated within the school gates. As rescuers came to transport casualties from the first explosion to hospitals, the second explosion occurred. The incidents happened in quick succession and there was concern the actual number of victims was expected to increase, due to the serious condition of numerous injured ones.
Although no organization has claimed responsibility, for now, the region has previously been targeted by Afghanistan's ISIL (ISIS) affiliate, which views Shia Muslims as heretics, escaping to the control of the Taliban authorities. Relatives of students were fought back by Taliban fighters, who gathered outside a hospital treating the injured, in quest of information as the tragedy unleashed.
The blasts were criticized and condemned by Save the Children's Afghanistan Country Director Chris Nyamandi, together with Filippo Grandi, the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees who expressed condolences to the victims' families on Twitter, joining Deborah Lyons, Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan.
The onslaught comes after a period of relative calm during the harsh winter months. ISIL has posed the greatest security threat to the Taliban authorities, who rushed into Kabul after following the withdrawal of US soldiers last year.
To read more, please visit:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-61148248
https://www.unocha.org/afghanistan
Author: Viola Rubeca; Editor: Sara Gorelli
