A suicide bomber attacked a school hall in Kabul, Afghanistan, where 300 recent high school graduates were prepping for college entrance exams on Friday, killing at least 25 people and injuring at least 56.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021, and ever since, “ISIS-K has continued to carry out ruthless attacks on Hazaras, a predominantly Shiite Muslim minority,” The New York Times reported.
Why did the Kabul attack mostly kill young women and teenagers?
The attack occurred at Kaaj educational center, and the victims are between 18 and 25 years old and were mostly young women, per CNN.
Girls and boys are placed in separate sections in the classroom, due to mandates from the Taliban government, explaining why the attack mostly harmed young women, per The New York Times.
“I saw parents, other members of the families of the Kaaj students, screaming and running up and down,” eyewitness Taiba Mehtarkhil told CNN. “Some were trying to get emergency medical attention to their loved ones and some others were looking for their sons and daughters. I saw around 20 killed and many more wounded with my own eyes.”
The Kabul police have apprehended a possible suspect, but no group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, according to The Washington Post.