Afghanistan Bomb Attack Targeting Schoolgirls Kills at Least 30 People

KABUL—Militants killed at minimum 30 people today in three explosions targeting ladies outdoors a faculty in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in Kabul, officers mentioned, an assault that could exacerbate sectarian tensions in advance of the U.S. armed service withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The blasts hit the Sayed Shuhada faculty in the Dasht-e Barchi location of west Kabul, an location populated largely by the Shiite Hazara community. The location has experienced a string of lethal assaults in the latest months.

No group claimed duty for the bombings. In the earlier, Islamic State’s regional affiliate, which considers Shiites to have turned down Islam, ordinarily took credit score for assaults targeting Shiite civilians. Though the Taliban harshly oppressed the Hazaras when the movement ruled most of Afghanistan in the nineties, the Taliban now say they tolerate the Shiite minority.

A Taliban spokesman tweeted to condemn Saturday’s assault, accusing Islamic Point out of getting guiding it. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, however, blamed the Taliban. In a assertion condemning the bombings, he mentioned that “the Taliban, by intensifying their illegitimate war and violence, confirmed that they have no curiosity in a peaceful option to the recent crisis.”

The Sayed Shuhada faculty is property to male and feminine learners finding out in independent shifts. The explosions went off in the afternoon, as ladies have been leaving for the working day.