Key facts
- An explosion at an education center in Kabul injured at least 42 children on Monday.
- The blast occurred in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood, a frequent target of Sunni Islamist militants.
- The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan called for an investigation into the incident.
- Patients at a Kabul hospital were between 10 and 14 years old and suffered shrapnel injuries.
- The UN and the EU condemned the attack, calling it heinous and unacceptable.
An explosion at an education centre in Kabul injured at least 42 children on Monday, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said, calling for an investigation into the incident. The blast occurred in Dasht-e-Barchi, a Kabul neighborhood predominantly home to Afghanistan's Hazara and Shi'ite minority communities, which has frequently been the target of Sunni Islamist militants.
A Kabul hospital that admitted at least 35 of the injured students stated all patients were between the ages of 10 and 14. Dejan Panic, the Afghanistan Country Director for the EMERGENCY hospital in Kabul, said patients were suffering from shrapnel injuries, with at least three requiring surgical care.
The UN's Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, condemned the incident as a 'heinous attack.' The European Union's mission in Afghanistan also stated that 'deliberate attacks on children & education centers are unacceptable.'
Dasht-e-Barchi has been repeatedly hit by attacks in recent years, many targeting civilians and members of the Shi'ite minority. In May 2021, a school attack in the area killed at least 85 people, mostly girls and women. In September 2022, a suicide attacker targeted a tutoring center, killing at least 19 people, many of them young women and teenage girls.