Death toll jumps to 50 in Afghan school blasts
KABUL, Afghanistan — Grieving families buried their dead Sunday after a horrific bombing at a girls’ school in the Afghan capital that killed 50 people, many of them students between 11 to 15 years old.
The number of wounded in Saturday’s attack climbed to more than 100, said Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian.
In the western neighborhood of Dasht-e-Barchi, families buried their dead amid angry recriminations at a government they said has failed to protect them from repeated attacks in the mostly Shiite Muslim neighborhood.
“The government reacts after the incident, it doesn’t do anything before the incident,” said Mohammad Baqir, Alizada, 41, who had gathered to bury his niece, Latifa, a student the Syed Al-Shahda school.
Three explosions outside the school entrance struck as students were leaving for the day, Arian said. The blasts targeted Afghanistan’s ethnic Hazaras who dominate the Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood, where the bombings occurred. Most Hazaras are Shiite Muslims.
The Taliban denied responsibility.
The first explosion came from a vehicle packed with explosives, followed by two others, Arian said.
In the capital rattled by relentless bombings, Saturday’s attack was among the worst. Criticism has mounted over lack of security and growing fears of even more violence as the U.S. and NATO complete their final military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The Dasht-e-Barchi area has been hit by several incidents of violence targeting minority Shiites and most often claimed by the Islamic State affiliate operating in the country.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts.