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Several killed in Kabul school suicide attack

December 11, 2014

A suicide bomber has targeted a school near the French cultural center in Kabul, killing several people and wounding many more. The attack comes as international troops withdraw from the war-torn country.

https://p.dw.com/p/1E2mt
Security is tightened around the Esteqlal school after a suicide attack
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Jalali

A French-run high school in the Afghan capital was targeted by a suicide bomber on Thursday. The bombing left at least several persons dead and wounded around 16 others. The nationalities of the injured were not yet clear, but the French embassy in Kabul told the Associated Press that all its nationals were safe.

German press agency DPA, the Associated Press and Reuters quoted the Deputy Interior Minister Ayoub Solanki, who said that a German national may have been killed in the attack.

Solanki also told Reuters that the suspected bomber, around 17 years old, blew himself up inside the Esteqlal High School which was hosting a music performance at the time.

DW correspondent at the scene

DW correspondent in Kabul, Shadi Khan was present at the French school to watch the play and witnessed the bombing.

In an email to DW, he wrote: "A suicide bomber aged less than 20 years (according to the Ministry of Interior) blew himself up minutes after the play started, at around 17:30 local time. The blast was loud enough to shatter the roof of the hall that has a capacity of over one thousand spectators. Inside the hall, chaos erupted, the hall filled up with smoke and all rushed in various directions to escape."

Deutsche Welle Urdu Shadi Khan
DW correspondent Shadi Khan witnessed the attackImage: DW/P. Henriksen

Earlier in the day, a suicide attacker targeted a bus carrying Afghan army personnel, killing six soldiers and wounding 11.

Elsewhere, five school children were killed in airstrikes by foreign forces, according to local officials, although the International Security Assistance Force maintained that the deceased were insurgents.

The recent spate of violent attacks in Afghanistan is believed to be the fallout from international troops withdrawing from the country.

Concerns about further internal violence are also increasing after the US announced it wasn't hosting any prisoners in Afghanistan.

The announcement followed the release of a US Senate Intelligence Committee report that condemned the brutal treatment of terror suspects by the CIA following the 9/11 attacks.

mg/lw (Reuters, AP, AFP)