Schoolgirls slaughtered in attack on Kabul Shi’ites

AT LEAST 30 people have been killed and many more injured after a bomb exploded near a girls’ school in a Shia district of the Afghan capital Kabul.

Many of the victims were pupils aged between 11 and 15 years old, an Afghan government spokesman said.

The Taliban condemned the attack, apparently aimed at civilians, and denied any responsibility.

Ambulances rushed to evacuate the wounded from the scene of the blast near Syed AlShahda school, in Dasht-eBarchi, in the west of the city.

Residents said the explosion was deafening. While no one has claimed responsibility, previous brutal attacks in the same area have been claimed by the Afghan affiliate of the so-called ‘Islamic State’ (IS).

The radical Sunni Muslim group has declared war on Afghanistan’s minority Shia Muslims. In Dasht-e-Barchi, angry crowds attacked the ambulances and even beat health workers as they tried to evacuate the wounded, health ministry spokesman Ghulam Dastigar Nazari said.

He implored residents to cooperate and allow ambulances free access to the site.