Deadly blasts rock school in Kabul's Shia Hazara neighbourhood

At least six people have been killed in two blasts at a boys' school in the Afghan capital of Kabul, with social media showing grisly images from the Hazara Shia neighbourhood where the incident took place.

Kabul police spokesperson Khalid Zadran said Tuesday's blasts at the Abdul Rahim Shahid school were caused by improvised explosive devices and left at least six people killed and 11 wounded.

"These are preliminary figures. We are at the site and waiting for more details," he said.

Zadran said a third blast occurred at an English language centre in the same area, but did not specify whether it was caused by an explosive.

Zadran earlier tweeted that three blasts had rocked the school, which is in an area mainly inhabited by the Hazara community and has been previously targeted by the Daesh terrorist group.

The blasts in Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood occurred as students were coming out of their morning classes at the school, a witness told AFP news agency.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

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Security challenge

Grisly images posted on social media networks showed several bodies lying at the gate and compound of the school.

Images showed patches of blood, burnt books and school bags scattered at the premises. Victims were taken to hospital, but journalists were kept from the premises.

The number of bomb blasts in the country has declined since the Taliban ousted the US-backed Afghan government in August, but analysts say the group is a key security challenge to Afghanistan.

Daesh has claimed some of the deadliest attacks in recent years.

In May last year at least 85 people—mainly girl students—were killed and about 300 were wounded when three bombs exploded near their school in Dasht-e-Barchi.

No group claimed responsibility, but in October 2020 Daesh claimed a suicide attack on an educational centre in the same area that killed 24, including students.

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

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