The deadly attack on an education center in the west of Kabul was widely condemned at national and international levels with Amnesty International saying that recent blasts in Kabul signal utter failure of the Taliban to protect minorities.
“Today’s horrific attack is just the latest in a series of attacks in areas dominated by the minority Hazara Shiite population and a shamefaced reminder of the inaptitude and utter failure of the Taliban, as de-facto authorities, to protect the people of Afghanistan. Urgent steps must be taken to ensure the safety of all people under the Taliban’s rule, especially the members of minority communities,” Amnesty International’s South Asia Campaigner Samira Hamidi said.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif says he is deeply grieved at the loss of young lives in the attack on an education center in Kabul.
“Words can’t express this sheer barbarism,” he said, calling for “strengthening global cooperation against changing threat matrix of terrorism.”
The Emergency Hospital in Kabul said that 22 patients, including 20 women, have been received at the health facility following the suicide attack on an education center in the Hazara-majority Dasht-e-Barchi area.
The United Nations mission in Afghanistan also condemned “the callous attack at an education center in a Hazara and Shia-majority area” in the west of Kabul.
Meanwhile, US Chargé d’Affaires Karen Decker said the US strongly condemns today’s attack on Kaaj Education Center in Kabul.
“Targeting a room full of students taking exams is shameful. All students should be able to pursue an education in peace and without fear,” she added.
The UN special rapporteur Richard Bennett condemned the attack and said it was a repeat of a Daesh attack at the same location in 2018.
“Onslaught on education for Hazaras and Shia must end,” he asked. “Stop attacks on Afghanistan’s future. Stop international crimes.”
Former president Hamid Karzai said the attack was against all Islamic and human values.
Sibghatullah Ahmadi, a spokesman for anti-Taliban resistance front, said the Taliban rule allows “free movement of other terrorist groups” in Afghanistan.
Education centers in Kabul have been targeted by deadly attacks many times. Many attacks in the west of Kabul in recent years that have targeted Shia and Hazara communities have been claimed by Daesh.
Sources said that at least 32 people, mostly women, were killed in the attack on the Kaaj education center in the Dasht-e-Barchi area and over 40 others were wounded.
Sources said that at least 300 students were at the tutoring center when the attack happened.
