Afghanistan Declares National Mourning for Terror Attack Victims
KABUL (Dispatches) – The government of Afghanistan declared Tuesday as a national mourning day to pay tribute to the victims of the recent terror attacks on a girl school in Kabul and on a group of students in eastern Logar province.
Three consecutive blasts including a car bomb struck a girl school in Dasht-e-Barchi locality of PD 13 in Kabul city on Saturday, killing more than 60 pupils on the spot and injuring more than 100 others, with all the victims being civilians, police have confirmed. The death toll has risen to 85.
The act of terror was done in a suburb of the capital which is largely populated by the Shia Hazara community.
Hazara Muslims have historically faced persecution in the country of 38 million.
In late April, an explosives-laden car targeted a guest house in Pul-e-Alam city, capital of eastern Logar province, killing 30 persons with majority of them being students.
To pay homage to the victims of the terrorist attacks, the government announced Tuesday as a national mourning day, during which the country’s national flag remains half-hoisted.
President Ashraf Ghani in a statement, besides condemning the attacks on a school in the strongest term, said "Taliban by increasing coward act of terrorism once again demonstrated that the group doesn’t believe in political solution to the country’s crisis and rather sabotaging the peace process.”
The Taliban outfit, which claimed responsibility for the deadly car bomb attack in Logar province, has rejected its involvement in attack on the girl school in Kabul.
The militant group has also issued a warning of future attacks on U.S. troops occupying the country.
The U.S. was supposed to have pulled all its forces out of Afghanistan by May 1 as agreed with the Taliban last year, but Washington pushed back the date to September 11.
Three consecutive blasts including a car bomb struck a girl school in Dasht-e-Barchi locality of PD 13 in Kabul city on Saturday, killing more than 60 pupils on the spot and injuring more than 100 others, with all the victims being civilians, police have confirmed. The death toll has risen to 85.
The act of terror was done in a suburb of the capital which is largely populated by the Shia Hazara community.
Hazara Muslims have historically faced persecution in the country of 38 million.
In late April, an explosives-laden car targeted a guest house in Pul-e-Alam city, capital of eastern Logar province, killing 30 persons with majority of them being students.
To pay homage to the victims of the terrorist attacks, the government announced Tuesday as a national mourning day, during which the country’s national flag remains half-hoisted.
President Ashraf Ghani in a statement, besides condemning the attacks on a school in the strongest term, said "Taliban by increasing coward act of terrorism once again demonstrated that the group doesn’t believe in political solution to the country’s crisis and rather sabotaging the peace process.”
The Taliban outfit, which claimed responsibility for the deadly car bomb attack in Logar province, has rejected its involvement in attack on the girl school in Kabul.
The militant group has also issued a warning of future attacks on U.S. troops occupying the country.
The U.S. was supposed to have pulled all its forces out of Afghanistan by May 1 as agreed with the Taliban last year, but Washington pushed back the date to September 11.