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A suicide attack hit an educational center in Kabul, the Afghan capital, on Friday, September 30, leaving at least 19 people dead and dozens injured. Most of the victims are young women who were taking college entrance exams. The blast occurred in a neighborhood populated mainly by an ethnic Shiite minority.
Educational centers are once again the target of terrorist attacks in Afghanistan.
An explosion, the product of a suicide attack, shook the Kaaj Higher Education Center on the morning of this Friday, September 30, where dozens of students were taking exams to prepare for university entrance.
At least 19 people were killed and around 30 wounded, a Taliban government spokesman confirmed.
The Kabul Emergency Hospital reported receiving at least 22 patients, adding that most of them were women between the ages of 18 and 25.
About 300 recent high school graduates had arrived at the scene around 6:30 am local time to take practice tests, said Shafi Akbary, a 19-year-old survivor.
“First we heard the sound of some gunshots at the front door. Everyone was worried and tried to run in a different direction (…) Shortly after that a big explosion happened inside the center”, Akbary narrated.
The young man, who was uninjured, described seeing dozens of bodies and wounded scattered around him. “I was so scared and couldn’t even move to help them. Then other people ran in and got us out,” he added.
The targeted institution helps students study for higher education entrance exams, among other activities.
The events took place in the Dashti Barchi neighborhood of central Kabul, an area populated mainly by the Hazara ethnic group, which belongs to the country’s Shiite minority.
Although no group has so far claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, the self-styled Islamic State has carried out repeated attacks on schools, hospitals and mosques in that and other Shi’ite areas in recent years.
Police arrest a suspect in connection with the attack
The spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior, Abdul Nafi Takor, reported that the authorities arrested a man who could have links to what happened this Friday.
For his part, the local police chief, Abdul Rahman Nafiz, criticized the center for not informing security officials about the examination.
“Neither the police officers nor the intelligence officers were aware of any activity or a big examination in this center, so the center officers were very reckless (…) Now our mujahideen (Taliban police) are here and they are investigating the incident,” he said.
Khalid Zadran, a Taliban-appointed spokesman for the Kabul Police, added that schools in the area should request additional security from the country’s ruling political-religious movement when organizing large crowds such as education exams. .
The Islamic State group is the main rival of the Taliban, a group that took control of the country again in August 2021, after the chaotic withdrawal of troops from the United States and its Western allies.
The nation’s new leaders have been waging a campaign of violence that has intensified in the past year.
With Reuters and AP
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