AGL 38.00 Increased By ▲ 0.43 (1.14%)
AIRLINK 132.01 Decreased By ▼ -0.49 (-0.37%)
BOP 5.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.71%)
CNERGY 3.81 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (1.06%)
DCL 8.78 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.01%)
DFML 40.95 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.12%)
DGKC 88.26 Decreased By ▼ -1.90 (-2.11%)
FCCL 35.25 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (0.48%)
FFBL 66.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.50 (-0.75%)
FFL 10.38 Increased By ▲ 0.23 (2.27%)
HUBC 109.06 Increased By ▲ 2.66 (2.5%)
HUMNL 14.14 Increased By ▲ 0.74 (5.52%)
KEL 4.84 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.41%)
KOSM 6.82 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.44%)
MLCF 41.56 Decreased By ▼ -0.24 (-0.57%)
NBP 59.50 Increased By ▲ 0.92 (1.57%)
OGDC 181.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-0.14%)
PAEL 25.57 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-0.51%)
PIBTL 5.86 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.51%)
PPL 146.50 Decreased By ▼ -1.90 (-1.28%)
PRL 23.28 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.26%)
PTC 15.46 Increased By ▲ 0.22 (1.44%)
SEARL 68.05 Decreased By ▼ -0.74 (-1.08%)
TELE 7.29 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.69%)
TOMCL 35.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.20 (-0.56%)
TPLP 7.45 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.68%)
TREET 14.02 Decreased By ▼ -0.22 (-1.54%)
TRG 50.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.20 (-0.39%)
UNITY 26.40 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
WTL 1.22 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.83%)
BR100 9,775 Increased By 7.5 (0.08%)
BR30 29,538 Increased By 137.7 (0.47%)
KSE100 91,990 Increased By 51.6 (0.06%)
KSE30 28,720 Decreased By -23.8 (-0.08%)

KABUL: At least 19 people were killed and 24 others wounded Wednesday by a blast at a madrassa in Afghanistan's northern city of Aybak, a doctor at a local hospital told AFP.

There have been dozens of blasts and attacks targeting civilians since the Taliban returned to power in August last year, most claimed by the local chapter of the Islamic State (IS) group.

The doctor in Aybak, about 200 kilometres (130 miles) north of the capital Kabul, said the casualties were mostly youngsters.

"All of them are children and ordinary people," he told AFP, asking not to be named.

A provincial official confirmed the blast at Al Jihad madrassa, an Islamic religious school, but could not provide casualty figures.

The Taliban, which frequently plays down casualty figures, said 10 students had died and "many others" were injured.

"Our detective and security forces are working quickly to identify the perpetrators of this unforgivable crime and punish them for their actions," tweeted Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafay Takor.

TTP ends ceasefire, orders nationwide attacks

Images and video circulating on social media -- which could not immediately be verified -- showed Taliban fighters picking their way through bodies strewn across the floor of a building.

Prayer mats, shattered glass and other debris littered the scene.

Lull between blasts

The Aybak doctor said some critically wounded patients had been moved to better-equipped hospitals in Mazar-i-Sharif, which is about 120 kilometres away by road.

"Those who are here... were mostly hurt by shrapnel and blast waves. They had some shrapnel on their body and face," he said.

Aybak is a small but ancient provincial capital that came to prominence as a caravan stopping post for traders during the fourth and fifth centuries when it was also an important Buddhist centre.

There has been a lull of a few weeks between major blasts targeting civilians in Afghanistan, although several Taliban fighters have been killed in isolated attacks.

In September, at least 54 people -- including 51 girls and young women -- were killed when a suicide bomber detonated a device at a hall in Kabul packed with hundreds of students sitting a practice test for university admissions.

No group claimed responsibility for that bombing, but the Taliban later blamed the Islamic State and said it had killed several ringleaders.

In May last year, before the Taliban's return to power, at least 85 people -- mainly girls -- were killed and about 300 were wounded when three bombs exploded near their school in the neighbourhood

No group claimed responsibility, but a year earlier IS claimed a suicide attack on an educational centre in the area that killed 24.

The Taliban's return to power brought an end to their insurgency, but IS continues to stage attacks across the country.

The Taliban movement -- made up primarily of ethnic Pashtuns -- has pledged to protect minorities and clamp down on security threats.

Amnesty International called the blast "disturbing", adding in a tweet it was "yet another reminder to the world that the sufferings of Afghan people are far from over."

Comments

Comments are closed.