40 killed in blast outside school in Kabul

Kabul : Nearly 40 people were killed in a blast targeted at a school in Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Saturday. Dozens were injured in the incident, said a senior interior ministry official.

The official told Reuters that majority of casualties in the incident are of the students who were coming out from the Sayed ul Shuhada school.

A spokesman for the interior ministry, Tariq Arian, put the death toll at least 25 and did not specify the cause or the target.

Ghulam Dastagir Nazari, spokesman for the health ministry, said 46 people had been taken to hospitals so far.

Kabul has been on a high alert since the United States announced that it will be moving out its troops completely by September 16.

So far, not terrorist group has claimed responsibility of the attack. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied the insurgent group’s involvement and condemned the incident.

Sayed ul Shuhada is a joint high school for both boys and girls. The students study in three shifts, second one is only for girls.

The wounded are mostly female students, Najiba Arian, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Education, told Reuters.

“The horrendous attack in Dasht-i Barchi area in Kabul, is an despicable act of terrorism," the European Union’s mission in Afghanistan said on Twitter.

“Targeting primarily students in a girls’ school, makes this an attack on the future of Afghanistan."

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