KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has called for a full investigation into an explosion at a private school in western Kabul that injured dozens of people, the majority of them children,
The blast occurred on Monday evening in the courtyard of Sham-e-Hedayat private school in Mahdia Township, in the Dasht-e-Barchi area of the capital, as students were leaving their classrooms, according to health sources.
At least 52 people were injured, most of them children, health sources said. Emergency Hospital in Kabul said 35 injured people were taken to the facility, all of them children aged between 10 and 14. The hospital said at least three of the patients required surgical care.
UNAMA confirmed that 42 children aged between nine and 14 were among those injured. The mission expressed sympathy with the children and their families and called for a full investigation to establish how the explosion occurred.
“Schools and educational centers should be safe places for children,” UNAMA said in a statement, stressing that such sites must be protected from violence and harm.
No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Similar attacks in the past have often been claimed by Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), the regional branch of Islamic State, which remains active in Afghanistan. The group has repeatedly targeted ethnic and religious minorities, particularly members of the Hazara and Shia communities, as well as Sufis and Taliban members.
Dasht-e-Barchi, a densely populated area of western Kabul predominantly inhabited by Afghanistan’s Shia Hazara community, has been the scene of repeated deadly attacks in recent years. Schools, education centres, mosques and other civilian locations in the area have previously been targeted.
UNICEF, the European Union, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan Richard Bennett, armed opposition groups, and former Afghan politicians have also called for an investigation into the explosion.
“Schools must be safe places for every child,” UNICEF said in a statement. “Children should never be a target and exposed to violence or harm.”
