13 killed, 42 injured in Afghanistan bus bombing

According to the Afghan Interior Ministry, the first bomb blast took place in Zabul province where a passenger bus collided with a roadside bomb, killing 11 passengers and injuring 28, while the second explosion occurred in Parwan province where another bus collided with a roadside bomb. As a result, 2 people were killed and 9 were injured.

Security has been tightened in the area following the bombings and checks are underway while the injured have been shifted to nearby hospitals.

Earlier, dozens were killed in bombings at sports halls, cultural centres, and places of education in particular.

The bomb exploded near a girls’ school which was situated in a majorly Shiite district of Western Kabul, killing 40 people including students between ages 11 to 15.

The images shared on social media by the locals clearly showed the heavy clouds of smoke rising above the community.

Ambulances rushed to the scene of the blast in the neighbourhood of Dasht-e-Barchi to evacuate the wounded, the interior minister told.

No one has yet accepted the responsibility for the bomb blast.

An extremist group has previously claimed attacks against minority Shiites in the same area, last year claiming two brutal attacks on education facilities that killed 50 people, most of the students.

Earlier, scores of militants were killed in Afghanistan's Baghlan province as government forces launched a counter-offensive to repel the attacks, a police official said on Friday.

Earlier in 2018, IS suicide bombers struck tuition centres in the area killing more than 70 people.

As of yet, there's been no claim for the attack on Saturday. However, IS continues to carry out assassinations and bombings in Kabul and the city of Jalalabad, despite having recently lost much of the territory it once controlled in the east of the country.

Meanwhile, Nobel Prize Laureate, Malala Yousafzai has termed the escalation of terrorism alarming for peace and democracy in Afghanistan.

Taking to Twitter, the 23-year old activist reacted to the deadly Kabul attacks and said that world leaders must unite to safeguard school children.

“In Kabul, terrorists committed a horrendous attack on school children, most of them girls. The escalation of terrorism is alarming for peace and democracy in Afghanistan”.

She further added, “World leaders must unite to safeguard school-children. My heart is with the #Kabul school victims’ families”.

In Kabul, terrorists committed a horrendous attack on school children, most of them girls. The escalation of terrorism is alarming for peace and democracy in Afghanistan. World leaders must unite to safeguard school-children. My heart is with the #Kabul school victims’ families.

— Malala (@Malala) May 9, 2021