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Kabul blast kills teenagers sitting practice exam─── 12:26 Fri, 30 Sep 2022
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A suicide attack at a tuition centre in the Afghan capital Kabul has killed at least 19 people, most of them female students, police and witnesses say.
Nearly 30 others were wounded at the Kaaj education centre in the Dasht-e-Barchi area in the west of the city.
BBC World News reports students had been sitting a practice university exam when the bomber struck. No group has yet claimed the attack.
Many of those in the area are minority Hazaras, who have often been targeted by Islamic State (IS) militants.
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— Zabih Waziri (@zabih_waziri07) September 30, 2022
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Footage on local TV and shared on social media appeared to show scenes from a nearby hospital, where rows of covered bodies were laid out on the floor. Other media, reported from the site of the private college, showed rubble and upturned tables in the damaged classroom.
"We didn't find her here," a woman who was looking for her sister at one of the hospitals told AFP news agency. "She was 19 years old."
A suicide attacked killed 19 students in Kabul. This is the Classroom moments before the blast. This is so painful I can't stop crying ?? when will be Afghan people safe from all this ??#KABULBLAST #Kabul #SaudiArabia #hackers #Pakistani #Hackerr_Hk pic.twitter.com/PaVlLkLZlc
— Dr. Amna Jamal (@amnakegossips) September 30, 2022
Eyewitnesses told the BBC that most of the victims were girls. A student who was wounded told AFP that there were around 600 people in the room when the attack happened.
On Friday, the Taliban's interior ministry spokesman said security teams were at the site and condemned the attack.
Abdul Nafy Takor said attacking civilian targets "proves the enemy's inhuman cruelty and lack of moral standards".
The attack was also strongly condemned by the United Nations and the US.
"Targeting a room full of students taking exams is shameful; all students should be able to pursue an education in peace and without fear," said Karen Decker, charge d'affaires at the US mission to Afghanistan, in a tweet.
The security situation in Afghanistan, which had improved after the end of fighting following the Taliban takeover, has been deteriorating in recent months, with a number of attacks on civilians but also Taliban supporters. Some have been claimed by IS, which is a bitter rival of the Taliban.
Schools and hospitals have been targeted in the Dasht-e-Barchi area in a series of attacks, most of which are thought to have been the work of IS.
Last year - before the Taliban returned to power - a bomb attack on a girls school in Dasht-e-Barchi killed at least 85 people, mainly students, and wounded hundreds more.