| April 2022 Kabul school bombing | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Persecution of Shias by the Islamic State | |
  Kabul Kabul (Afghanistan) | |
| Location | Kabul, Afghanistan |
| Date | 19 April 2022 |
| Target | Hazaras |
Attack type | Bombing |
| Deaths | 6 |
| Injured | 25 |
| Perpetrators | Unknown |
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. [1]
Since the takeover of the country by the Deobandi Islamist Taliban in August 2021, the rival Islamic State – Khorasan Province group has frequently targeted minorities in Afghanistan, including a previous school bombing in Kabul. [2] Most of the victims were ethnic Hazaras, who have been a target for ISIL in Afghanistan since the Taliban took power, and earlier. [2] The return of the Taliban has also been seen as a threat by this Shia minority, who has seen many fleeing the country to other nations such as neighboring Pakistan and as far as Canada. [3]
At around 10 a.m. (UTC+4:30), [4] an explosion occurred at the entrance of the Abdul Rahim Shahid School, one of the largest schools in the city, with 16,000 boys attending, as 11th- and 12th-graders were leaving their classes. Ten minutes later, another explosion rocked an alley near an educational campus. [4]
Medical authorities responded to the scene quickly and injured students were transported to receive medical attention. A school nursing facility reported four people dead and 14 injured. [5] These figures were later increased to at least 6 dead, and eleven injured. [5] Reporters and journalists complained that Taliban authorities kept them from reaching the wounded victims being taken to hospitals in the area. [6] However, by the next day it was reported that the Taliban had returned the bodies of the deceased to their families, with the official victim numbers reported at 6 dead and 25 injured. Some have raised claims that the Taliban disrespected the deceased and that the victims counts should be higher due to the number of individuals looking for missing family members. [7]
No one or organization has claimed responsibility for the attacks. [8]
Khalid Zadran, the spokesman for Kabul's commander acknowledged "Shia casualties" [5] and the Taliban secured the area. [4] A deputy spokesperson of the Taliban government condemned the attack and called it a "crime against humanity" and vowed that the perpetrators would be found and punished. [7] US State Department spokesman Ned Price condemned the attack, expressing outrage at the "heinous attacks [...] in Kabul, Afghanistan" and asked for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. [9]
Locals expressed suspicion, frustration and some conspiracy theories after the bombing. Some residents claimed that the Islamic State group, known as Daesh locally wanted to show off its strength, while others claimed that the Taliban had secretly planned the attack or unknown enemies had organized the attack. [10]
Save the Children condemned the attack, saying that it was "deeply saddened about reports that children have been injured, and possibly killed." [5] The International Rescue Committee (IRC) condemned the "senseless bombing of schools in Kabul", sent condolences to the victims' families and highlighted the jeopardy in which Afghan citizens live, according to IRC. [11] Similar condemnation of the attack was seen by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. [12]
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.
The 2011 Afghanistan Ashura bombings were a pair of bombings in the Afghan capital of Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif. The Kabul suicide bombing took place at around noon local time, on the day when Muslims commemorate Ashura, an annual holy day throughout the Muslim world particularly by the Shi'a Muslims.
The persecution of Hazaras in Quetta, is a series of ethnic or religious motivated attacks on Hazaras in Quetta, Pakistan.
Shia Muslims have been persecuted by the Islamic State (IS), an Islamic extremist group, since 2014. Persecutions have taken place in Iraq, Syria, and other parts of the world.
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 Islamic State–Taliban conflict is an ongoing insurgency by the Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-KP) against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The conflict initially began when both operated as rival insurgent groups in Nangarhar; since the rise of the Taliban's state in 2021, IS-KP have targeted and assassinated Taliban members using hit-and-run tactics. The group have also caused incidents and attacks across the border in Pakistan.
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.
A suicide car bomb exploded at a security checkpoint outside a police station in the Afghanistan capital, Kabul, on 7 August 2019. The explosion occurred in the early morning, in a predominantly Shia neighbourhood in western Kabul. At least 14 people were killed and 145 injured, mostly civilians. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, citing that one of their suicide bombers attacked "a recruitment centre". The attack occurred as ongoing negotiations between the Taliban and the United States were being conducted.
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.
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 in western Kabul, Afghanistan, leaving at least 90 people dead and 240 injured. The majority of the casualties were girls between 11 and 15 years old. 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.
On 8 October 2021, an ISIS-K suicide bombing occurred at the Shia Gozar-e-Sayed Abad Mosque in the Afghan city of Kunduz. Over 50 people were killed, and another 100 injured, but according to an estimate by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, more than 100 people were killed and wounded.
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 22 April 2022, the Sufi Mawlawi Sekandar Mosque in Kunduz, Afghanistan was bombed, leaving 33 people dead and 43 others injured.
On 17 August 2022, the Abu Bakr al Sadiq Mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan was bombed. Many were reported killed in the explosion. Residents nearby also heard gunshots after the explosion occurred. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, although it was almost surely perpetrated by ISIS–K, which has stepped up attacks targeting the Taliban and Afghan civilians since the former insurgents’ takeover of the country in August 2021, as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final stages of their withdrawal. The previous week, ISIS–K claimed responsibility for killing a prominent Taliban cleric at his religious center in Kabul.
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 52 and 110 injured The majority of the victims were young Hazara female students.
#StopHazaraGenocide is a social media campaign that aims to raise awareness and demand action against the persecution and violence faced by the Hazara ethnic group. 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.