Deadly blast hits educational centre in Kabul's Shia neighbourhood

A suicide attack at a learning centre in the Afghan capital has killed 19 people as students prepared for exams, police have said.

The Friday morning blast happened in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood of western Kabul, a predominantly Shia Muslim area home to the minority Hazara community, the scene of some of Afghanistan's most deadly attacks.

"Students were preparing for an exam when a suicide bomber struck at this educational centre. Unfortunately, 19 people have been martyred and 27 others wounded," police spokesperson Khalid Zadran said.

Videos posted online and photos published by local media showed bloodied victims being carried away from the scene.

"Security teams have reached the site, the nature of the attack and the details of the casualties will be released later," interior ministry spokesperson Abdul Nafy Takor earlier tweeted.

"Attacking civilian targets proves the enemy's inhuman cruelty and lack of moral standards."

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Security challenges

The Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan last year brought an end to the two-decade war and a significant reduction in violence, but security challenges remain.

Last year, before the return of the Taliban, at least 85 people — mainly girl students — were killed and about 300 wounded when three bombs exploded near their school in Dasht-e-Barchi.

No group claimed responsibility, but a year earlier Daesh claimed a suicide attack on an educational centre in the same area that killed 24, including students. Daesh considers Afghanistan's Shia Hazras as heretics.

In May 2020, the terrorist group was blamed for a bloody gun attack on a maternity ward of a hospital in the neighbourhood that killed 25 people, including new mothers.

And in April this year, two deadly bomb blasts at separate education centres in the area killed six people and wounded at least 20 others.