Suicide Bomb Rocks Education Center in Kabul Afghanistan during Exams: 19 Dead, Majority Women

JAKARTA - A suicide bomb attack at a tutoring center in the Afghan capital Kabul killed at least 19 people and injured dozens, police said on Friday, but no one has yet claimed responsibility.

The attack took place in Dasht-e-Barchi, a mostly Hazara area west of the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Twenty-seven people were injured in the explosion at the Kaj Education Center, Kabul police said. University entrance exams were in progress at the time. Most of the victims were girls, police and witnesses said.

"We were about 600 in the class. But most of the victims were among the girls", Akbar, a student injured in the attack, told AFP, citing The National News on September 30.

Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said the official toll was 19 dead and 27 injured.

"Attacking civilian targets proves the enemy's inhuman cruelty and lack of moral standards", he said, without elaborating on who is believed to be behind the attack, Reuters reported.

The official death toll is likely to rise. A hospital source said 23 people died. A Taliban source said 33 people had died and a student was among the victims.

Ghulm Sadiq, a resident, said he was at home when he heard a loud noise and went outside to see smoke rising from the center where he and his neighbors rushed to help.

"My friends and I were able to remove about 15 injured and 9 bodies from the blast site. Other bodies were lying under chairs and tables in the classroom", he said.

The ages of the students were not immediately clear, but private institutions such as those that were the targets of the attacks were preparing teenage students in their final years of high school for university entrance exams.

A security team has been dispatched to the scene to investigate, said Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafy Takor.

Separately, UNICEF Afghanistan said it was "shocked" by the bombing, which killed a boy and a girl.

"Violence in or around educational institutions is never acceptable", it said.

Girls' secondary schools have closed in Kabul in recent months after the ruling Taliban pledged to open all schools. However, Kabul residents and education workers say female students still attend private tutoring centres.

Since taking over Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have stressed they are securing the country after decades of war, but in recent months there have been a series of explosions at mosques and civilian areas.