Categories: World

Suicide bombers target children, kill 25 in Shia-Hazara school in Kabul

<p>
Three suicide bombings outside a secondary school in Dasht-e-Barchi -  a Hazara Shia neighbourhood in Kabul has left more than 30 dead and 100s injured.</p>
<p>
Tuesday’s blasts took place as students were coming out of their morning classes at the Abdul Rahim Shahid high school in the capital city of Afghanistan.</p>
<p>
According to witnesses, the Shia school was targeted by two suicide attackers in the morning as students were leaving the building, with pictures and video clips on social media showing abandoned school bags in the street.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Breaking?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Breaking</a>: At least 20 children were killed in a "suicide attack" in a school this morning in west <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kabul?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Kabul</a>, Afghanistan. The death toll is likely to rise.<br />
<br />
Not sharing gruesome pictures from the scene.<a href="https://t.co/vjFpqjcHky">pic.twitter.com/vjFpqjcHky</a></p>
— Ahmer Khan (@ahmermkhan) <a href="https://twitter.com/ahmermkhan/status/1516313602860646402?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>
“Three blasts have taken place … in a high school, there are some casualties to our Shia people. The explosions  occurred in the main exit of Abdul Rahim Shahid School, where crowds of students were there, one teacher told me who surprisingly escaped the attack,”  Khalid Zadran, the spokesman of Kabul police told AFP.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">
Reported: A Hazara man lost his three teenage boys student at today's attack in a school in West of Kabul. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StopHazaraGenocide?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StopHazaraGenocide</a> <a href="https://t.co/4TNa1Khw3d">pic.twitter.com/4TNa1Khw3d</a></p>
— Mohammad Karimi (@karimiwarasy) <a href="https://twitter.com/karimiwarasy/status/1516323619172864000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>
Another witness told the media that, “a father has lost three of his sons in the school attack today in Kabul.”</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">
Apparently ISIS took the responsibility of the attack!<br />
25 children martyred in this attack and yet <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Taliban?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Taliban</a> claim of bringing security!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kabul?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Kabul</a> <a href="https://t.co/rjUxOqBJqK">pic.twitter.com/rjUxOqBJqK</a></p>
— شمسیه نیاز (@shamsia_niaz) <a href="https://twitter.com/shamsia_niaz/status/1516326247013486596?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>
Though no group has claimed responsibility, this area has the majority of the Shia Hazara community– an ethnic and religious minority frequently targeted by the Islamic State of Khorasan (ISIS-K) ), a Sunni militant group.</p>
<p>
Last year in May, a girl’s school was targeted in the same area killing more than 100 female students.  </p>
<p>
The Hazara-Shia community in West Kabul city, particularly its sprawling Dasht-e Barchi area, has been the target of some of the city’s deadliest attacks, especially since 2016. The community has particularly been hit hard in west Kabul, but Hazaras and Shias have also been persistently targeted elsewhere in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>
After the Taliban first took over in August 2021, the neighbourhood experienced a short-lived respite from attacks but has since become the scene of a new cycle of assassinations and bombings, leaving its ethnic Hazara and Shia Muslim residents particularly vulnerable to an unrelenting campaign of targeted killings.</p>
<p>
There have been at least two deadly attacks on Shia-Hazara civilians in Kunduz and Kandahar provinces in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover. In the first attack in Kunduz, more than 400 people had gathered for the Friday prayer on 8 October 2021 when a ISIS-K suicide bomber attacked the Sayed Abad mosque. A week later, ISIS-K suicide bomber attacked Grand Fatima mosque, the largest Shia mosque in Kandahar city, killing more than 100 people. A month later, in a daring attack on the high security military hospital in Kabul, the suicide bombers of the ISIS-K killed the Taliban military chief for Kabul.</p>
<p>
While the Taliban rulers are touting their ability to provide security, as an achievement, the ISIS-K with its attacks is seeking to discredit that claim and using the Taliban's own tactics to attack them.</p>
<p>
Although both ISIS-K and the Taliban are hardline Sunni Islamist militant groups, they have sharp differences over religion and strategy and fought for years. The Taliban mostly follow the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam, believe in an Afghan nation-state and say they seek good relations with all countries. Islamic State follows the more rigid Salafi Islamic tradition, considers Shiites to be apostates who should be physically exterminated, and seeks to establish a world-wide Islamic caliphate through military conquest.</p>
<p>
<strong>Also Read : <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/world-news/isis-k-suicide-bomber-kills-injures-many-in-mosque-at-kandahar-taliban-s-birthplace-121575.html">ISIS-K suicide bomber kills 32, injures many in mosque at Kandahar, Taliban’s birthplace</a></strong></p>

Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha

Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha has decades of field experience in covering global terrorism, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. He is also an enthusiastic wildlife photographer.

Recent Posts

Indian Chamber of Commerce hosts 14th India Minerals and Metals Forum, focuses on green steel and circular economy

The Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) on Thursday hosted the 14th India Minerals and Metals…

13 hours ago

PM Modi concludes visit to Ghana, heads to Trinidad & Tobago for 2nd leg of five-nation tour

Prime Minister Narendra Modi departed from Ghana's capital city of Accra after concluding the first…

13 hours ago

India-Australia science and technology project set to boost undersea surveillance capabilities

India and Australia have undertaken the first science and technology project arrangement to improve the…

18 hours ago

India-France joint military Exercise Shakti-VIII concludes, marks completion of intensive training engagement

The eighth edition of India-France Joint Military Exercise Shakti-VIII concluded on Thursday at Camp Larzac,…

18 hours ago

Recognition of his steadfast efforts in strengthening voice of Global South: Jaishankar as PM Modi receives Ghana’s highest state honour

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been conferred the national honour of Ghana, Officer of…

21 hours ago

Jaishankar meets with FBI Director Kash Patel; appreciates India-US cooperation in countering terrorism, organised crime

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a meeting with FBI Director Kash Patel in Washington…

21 hours ago