2021 Kabul school bombing

Last updated

2021 Kabul school bombing
Part of the War in Afghanistan and
the 2021 Afghanistan attacks
Location map Afghanistan Kabul.svg
Red pog.svg
Bombing
2021 Kabul school bombing (Kabul)
Location of the school
Location Kabul, Afghanistan
Date8 May 2021
Target Hazaras
Attack type
 Bombing
Weapons Car bomb
Deaths90
Injured240
PerpetratorsDisputed

On 8 May 2021, a car bombing, followed by two more improvised explosive device (IED) blasts, occurred in front of Sayed al-Shuhada school in Dashte Barchi, a predominantly Shia Hazara area [1] [2] in western Kabul, Afghanistan, [3] leaving at least 90 people dead and 240 injured. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] The majority of the casualties were girls between 11 and 15 years old. [11] [12] The attack took place in a neighborhood that has frequently been attacked by militants belonging to the regional Islamic State – Khorasan Province (IS-K) over the years. [2] [13]

Contents

Following the attack, residents of Dashte Barchi expressed anger over the lack of security in the area. [14] The residents said the government has not done enough to secure Dashte Barchi, in spite of knowing it has repeatedly come under attack from militants belonging to IS-K. Many of the residents held Afghan president Ashraf Ghani responsible for the attack and raised loud chants against the Afghan government and security forces. [14]

Background

The Dashte Barchi area of Kabul is populated by members of Afghanistan's Hazara ethnic group. [15] In 2018, 34 people were killed in a school bombing and around 24 people were killed in an attack on a wrestling club in the area. [16] In 2020, 24 people were killed in an attack on maternity hospital and around 30 were killed when Kawsar-e-Danish tutoring center was attacked in the same area. Islamic State affiliates (IS) claimed responsibility for most of the attacks. [16] Most Hazaras practice Shia Islam and are considered heretics by the IS. [15] The Taliban also target the Hazaras for violent persecution, and they have also opposed education for girls, particularly teenagers. [17]

Afghanistan in general had also seen a large increase in fighting between Afghan security forces and Taliban insurgents as both sides work to gain territory over strategic areas seen with the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops. [18]

Attack

A car bomb exploded in front of the entrance of Sayed al-Shuhada school. [19] The school teaches both boys and girls in three shifts, the second being for females. [20]

A school teacher described that "a car bomb blast happened first, and then two more explosions occurred near the girls school in Kabul". [21] An Interior Ministry spokesman backed the statement stating the initial explosion was a car bomb followed by two IEDs. [22]

One of the injured students recounted that she was leaving the school when the explosion occurred, and about ten minutes later there was another explosion, followed by another minutes later. She continued that everyone was disoriented and screaming, with blood, debris and personal belongings scattered around the yard. [23]

Casualties

In the immediate aftermath of the bombing, 58 people were killed and more than 160 others were wounded. A day after the attack, the death toll rose to 85. [5] [24] The majority of the victims were schoolgirls under the age of 18. [25] A hospital programme coordinator for the hospital where most of the wounded were transported claimed the patients were aged mostly between 12 and 20 years old. [23]

Aftermath

Condolences outside Afghan embassy in Tehran 14000221001114637563742760378856 nqsh hmdrdy br brj azdy.jpg
Condolences outside Afghan embassy in Tehran

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the terrorist attack and called 11 May as a national day of mourning in wake of the incident. [26] [27] President Ashraf Ghani blamed the Taliban for the attack, but Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid denied involvement in the attack, in a message released to the media. [22] [28] Taliban spokesman also condemned the attack and held the Islamic State responsible for the attack. Additionally, he accused Afghanistan's intelligence agency of being complicit with IS. [13]

Many family members of the victims condemned the perceived inaction by the government to protect the population. One relative said; "The government reacts after the incident; it doesn't do anything before the incident". [23] The residents of Dashte Barchi reported that it took at least one hour for the officials to reach the scene. The delay in arrival of police, intelligence and ambulances on the scene angered the crowd who then started attacking the ambulance and police vehicles. [14] Many of the residents held Ghani responsible for the attack and raised loud chants against the Afghan government and security forces. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dashte Barchi</span> Neighborhood of Kabul in Afghanistan

Dashte Barchi is a settlement located in western Kabul, Afghanistan. Previously barren and agricultural, Dashte Barchi became populated in the early 2000s by newcomers from the provinces, mostly ethnic Hazaras from Maidan Wardak, Ghazni and Parwan, and some Kochi Pashtuns. It is mostly informally-developed. Over 95% of population of Dashte Barchi are Hazara.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persecution of Hazaras</span> Persecution of the Hazaras ethnic group

The Hazaras have long been the subjects of persecution in Afghanistan. The Hazaras are mostly from Afghanistan, primarily from the central regions of Afghanistan, known as Hazarajat. Significant communities of Hazara people also live in Quetta, Pakistan, and in Mashad, Iran, as part of the Hazara and Afghan diasporas.

Shia Muslims have been persecuted by the Islamic State, an Islamic extremist group, since 2014. Persecutions have taken place in Iraq, Syria, and other parts of the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">July 2016 Kabul bombing</span> Twin bombings in Kabul, Afghanistan

On 23 July 2016, a twin bombing occurred in the vicinity of Deh Mazang square in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, when Enlightenment Movement protesters, mostly from the Hazara ethnic group, were marching against a decision to bypass their region in the development of the TUTAP mega power project. At least 97 people were killed and 260 injured. The terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility, however the same group later on refused it. Some Hazara protestors allege that Afghan president Ashraf Ghani was behind the attack. They believe that Ashraf Ghani government was abetting the terrorists who were responsible for the attack. They also allege that the government officials were preventing the wounded from being shifted to the hospital.

On 31 May 2017, a truck bomb exploded in a crowded intersection in Kabul, Afghanistan, near the German embassy at about 08:25 local time during rush hour, killing over 150 and injuring 413, mostly civilians, and damaging several buildings in the embassy. The attack was the deadliest terror attack to take place in Kabul. The diplomatic quarter—in which the attack took place—is one of the most heavily fortified areas in the city, with three-meter-high (10 ft) blast walls, and access requires passing through several checkpoints. The explosion created a crater about 4.5 meters (15 ft) wide and 30 feet deep. Afghanistan's intelligence agency NDS claimed that the blast was planned by the Haqqani Network. Although no group has claimed responsibility, the Afghan Taliban are also a suspect but they have denied involvement and condemned the attack. It was the single largest attack on the city up till that point.

The December 2017 Kabul suicide bombing occurred on 28 December 2017, when militants attacked a Shiite cultural centre in Kabul, Afghanistan. The attack killed 50 people and injured over 80.

On 27 January 2018, an ambulance was used as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device near Sidarat Square in Kabul, Afghanistan. At least 103 people were killed and 235 others wounded in the attack. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

On 22 April 2018, a suicide bombing killed 70 people and wounded dozens more Sunday at a voter registration center in Koche Mahtab Qala, in the Hazara-majority Dashte Barchi area of western Kabul, Afghanistan. In addition to the fatalities, at least 120 others were injured in the attack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State–Taliban conflict</span> 2015–present armed conflict in Afghanistan

The Islamic State–Taliban conflict is an ongoing armed conflict between the Islamic State and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The conflict escalated when militants who were affiliated with Islamic State – Khorasan Province killed Abdul Ghani, a senior Taliban commander in Logar province on 2 February 2015. Since then, the Taliban and IS-KP have engaged in clashes over the control of territory, mostly in eastern Afghanistan, but clashes have also occurred between the Taliban and IS-KP cells which are located in the north-west and south-west.

On 1 July 2019, a combined gun and bomb attack took place in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood of Kabul, Afghanistan. The attackers initially detonated a bomb-laden truck, after which five gunmen entered a nearby building under construction and fired on Afghan security personnel evacuating people onto the street. At least forty-five were killed, including the five attackers. The spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Public Health, Wahidullah Mayar, said that 116 civilians, including 26 children and 5 women, were wounded. The Taliban claimed the responsibility for the bomb attack in Kabul and said although civilians were not the Taliban target, some were injured.

On 17 August 2019, a suicide bombing took place during a wedding in a wedding hall in Kabul, Afghanistan. At least 92 people were killed in the attack and over 140 injured. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for the bombing, stating that the attack targeted the Shi'ites. More than 1,000 people were gathered for the wedding when the attack took place. The attack occurred a day before the 100th Afghan Independence Day, causing the government to postpone the planned celebrations taking place at the Darul Aman Palace. It was the deadliest attack in Kabul since January 2018.

2021 (MMXXI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2021st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 21st year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 2nd year of the 2020s decade.

On the morning of 19 April 2022, three explosions rocked the Abdul Rahim Shahid Secondary School in the Shia Hazara neighborhood in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing at least 6 people and injuring scores of others of students. Many of the wounded were teenagers.

On 21 April 2022, a powerful bomb rocked the Shia Seh Dokan mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh Province, Afghanistan killing at least 31 people and injuring more than 87 others. The Islamic State – Khorasan Province claimed responsibility via Telegram.

On April 21, 2022, several separate explosions rocked different parts of Afghanistan. The first explosion occurred at the biggest Shia Muslim Seh Dokan mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan. Over 31 people were killed and another 87 were injured in the mosque explosion. Another explosion targeted a vehicle exploded near a police station Kunduz city, leaving 4 dead and 18 injured. A mine planted explosion hit a van of the military in Khogiani killing four Taliban members and wounding a fifth. The roadside bomb wounded two children in the Niaz Beyk area of Kabul. Islamic State (ISIL) has claimed several attacks including the bombing of the Seh Dokan mosque.

On September 30, 2022, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Kaaj education center in Dashte Barchi, a Hazara neighborhood in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing at least 53 and 110 injured The majority of the victims were young female students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stop Hazara Genocide</span> Social Movement

#StopHazaraGenocide is a social media campaign that aims to raise awareness and demand action against the persecution and violence faced by the Hazara ethnic minority in Afghanistan. The campaign was initiated by Hazaras in response to a series of deadly attacks on the Hazara community, especially students and women, by the Taliban and other extremist groups.

References

  1. ↑ FRANTZMAN, SETH J. "Was the latest attack in Afghanistan on Shi'ite women an act of genocide?". The Jerusalem Post.
  2. 1 2 "Blasts kill dozens near school in Afghan capital Kabul". Al Jazeera English. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  3. ↑ "Kabul attack: Blast near school leaves at least 30 dead". BBC News. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  4. ↑ "کفش بدست در جستجوی گمشدگان انفجار مکتب سیدالشهدا؛ آمنه و شکریه کجا هستند؟". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  5. 1 2 Jennifer Deaton and Sheena McKenzie. "Death toll rises to 85 in Afghanistan girls' school bomb attack". CNN. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  6. ↑ "School bombing heightens fears among Afghanistan's Hazaras, long a target for militants, amid U.S. exit". Washington Post. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  7. ↑ "At least 68 killed in Afghan school blast, families bury victims". Reuters. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  8. ↑ "Kabul attack: Blasts near school leave more than 50 dead" . Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  9. ↑ "Bombing Outside Afghan School Kills at Least 50, With Girls as Targets". The New York Times . 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  10. ↑ "Blasts Near Girls' School in Kabul; 30 People Killed". TOLOnews. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  11. ↑ "Bomb kills at least 30 near girls' school in Afghan capital". Associated Press . Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  12. ↑ Janjua, Haroon; Ray, Saptarshi (10 May 2021). "Kabul attack: Dozens of schoolgirls die in triple bombings in Afghanistan" . The Times. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  13. 1 2 "Bomb kills at least 30 near girls' school in Afghan capital". NBC News. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "Grief and anger after deadly blasts target Afghan school". Al Jazeera. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  15. 1 2 "Kabul attack: Families bury schoolchildren of blast that killed dozens". BBC News. 10 May 2021.
  16. 1 2 "Death toll soars to 50 in school bombing in Afghan capital". ABC News. 9 May 2021.
  17. ↑ Nossiter, Adam (9 May 2021). "'Why Do We Deserve to Die?' Kabul's Hazaras Bury Their Daughters". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  18. ↑ Latifi, Ali (9 May 2021). "Grief and despair in aftermath of Kabul girls' school bombings". NBC News. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  19. ↑ "Car bombing at Afghan school in Kabul kills 55, injures over 150". Reuters. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  20. ↑ "Blasts targeting Afghan school in Kabul kill 40, injures dozens". National Post. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  21. ↑ "Blasts Near Girls' School in Kabul; 25 People Killed". TOLOnews. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  22. 1 2 Jennifer Hauser. "At least 50 killed and over 100 wounded in blast near Kabul girls' school". CNN. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  23. 1 2 3 Faiez, Rahim (8 May 2021). "Death toll soars to 50 in bombing near girls' school in Afghanistan". FOX 11. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  24. ↑ "School bombing heightens fears among Afghanistan's Hazaras, long a target for militants, amid U.S. exit". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  25. ↑ "At least 85 killed in Afghan school blast, families bury victims". Reuters. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  26. ↑ "Afghan President condemns Kabul bombing, calls for national day of mourning" . Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  27. ↑ Nossiter, Adam. ""Why Do We Deserve to Die?" Kabul's Hazaras Bury Their Daughters" . Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  28. ↑ Held, Amy; Nuyen, Suzanne (9 May 2021). "Bombing Near Kabul School Kills At Least 50, Many Of Them Girls". NPR.org. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.