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Explosion at Samangan school sparks widespread condemnation
The deadly explosion on Wednesday at the Al-Jihadi school in the city of Aybak, the center of Samangan province, which killed and injured a number of children and teenagers, has sparked widespread condemnation both locally and internationally.
According to an announcement by the Ministry of Interior, 10 children died and a number of others were injured in the explosion.
US Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West, in a series of tweets called the attack terrible.
“All Afghan children have the right to go to school without fear,” he tweeted, adding that the United States condemns this senseless attack against innocent civilians.
Amnesty International called the blast “disturbing”, and stated it was “yet another reminder to the world that the sufferings of Afghan people are far from over.”
Amnesty International has said that Afghanistan demands the attention of the world and that determined efforts must be made to protect the people of this country and that those responsible for such reprehensible attacks face justice in fair trials.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has also said in its response that it is horrified by the explosion.
UNICEF added that at least 288 children were killed or injured in Afghanistan in the first half of this year, including in attacks on schools and educational environments. According to the organization, it is believed that the real figure of Wednesday’s explosion is much higher.
The United Nations Children’s Fund has said that children should never be the target of violence.
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned the blast.
“Appalled by today’s horrendous bomb attack on a school in Samangan, Afghanistan, killing and wounding innocent people and students. These atrocities only add to the multitude of crises in Afghanistan. My thoughts go out to the victims’ families and their loved ones,” Anniken Huitfeldt, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway tweeted.
Germany also condemned the explosion, adding that children should be able to go to school without fear and harm.
“We are shocked and saddened by the reports of an attack on a school in Aybak in northern Afghanistan with many dead and injured, including children & young people. Children should be able to go to school without fear and harm. Our thoughts are with those who grieve for a loved one,” German Foreign Office tweeted.
Imdadullah Mahajer, head of the cultural information department in Samangan province, says that an explosion occurred on Wednesday at a religious school called Al-Jihadi in the vicinity of Aybak city, the center of Samangan province.
Mahajer said that students were praying at the time of the explosion.
According to him, 15 students were killed and a number of others were wounded. However, the IEA has put the death toll at 10.
The attack was also widely condemned by IEA officials in the country.
Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, the political deputy of the current government, has strongly condemned the explosion and said that it is against all Islamic and humanitarian principles and an “unforgivable crime”.
“The enemies of Afghanistan and Islam revealed their enmity with Islam with this attack that targeted the students of Quran and Sunnah. I assure that the perpetrators of this crime will not remain unanswered,” Kabir tweeted.
Hamid Karzai, the former president of Afghanistan, has also strongly condemned this explosion and called it against all human and Islamic values.
Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the High Council of National Reconciliation under the previous government, also condemned the incident in a Facebook message.
Abdullah wrote that attacking worshipers, students, religious schools, mosques and places of worship is against Islamic and human values.
The ministry of interior meanwhile stated that the explosion targeted a religious seminary in Samangan’s capital Aybak, killing 10 students and wounding several others.
However, reports on social media indicate that the casualty toll was much higher.
So far no group claimed responsibility for the blast.
The European Union announced Tuesday it has made available 400,000 euros (over 30 million afghani) in response to widespread flooding in the north of Afghanistan in the past few weeks.
This humanitarian aid will provide immediate emergency assistance to beneficiaries in the regions of Baghlan, Badakhshan, and Takhar, the EU said in a statement.
The assistance will be delivered by EU humanitarian partners ACTED and DACAAR. It will include an emergency multi-sectoral response through cash assistance as well as access to clean water, emergency sanitation and hygiene supplies, the statement read.
The EU mentioned that it has been funding humanitarian operations in Afghanistan since 1994, providing close to 1.8 billion euros ($1.9 billion) in funding.
Last year alone, the EU mobilised 159 million euros ($172 million) in humanitarian funding.
In addition, since 2021 the EU has organised a Humanitarian Air Bridge to Afghanistan, with 35 flights so far that have carried over 1,600 tonnes of aid.
Turkish Airlines will resume its flights to Afghanistan tomorrow (Tuesday), officials said on Monday.
The Ministry of Transport said that a Turkish Airlines plane will land in Kabul airport on Tuesday.
“Tomorrow, Turkish Airlines will resume its flights to Kabul International Airport. There will be four flights between Kabul and Istanbul per week. This is good news for Afghan travelers. For those Afghans who travel to European countries, they can move easily through Turkey,” said Imamuddin Ahmadi, the spokesman of the Ministry of Transport.
However, the Chamber of Commerce and Investment emphasized that visas should be provided to businessmen and citizens of the country, otherwise companies will benefit the most, not Afghan citizens and businessmen.
“Not a single passenger is allowed, the reason is that they do not issue visas. If the Turks don’t start issuing visas, or the Arabs don’t issue visas, the plane will come for the cargo and there will be little movement of people,” said Khanjan Alokozay, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Investment.
In a meeting with Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, the Deputy Prime Minister said the Islamic Emirate will participate in the third Doha meeting if its “position” is accepted.
He said that Afghanistan is under the complete control of the Islamic Emirate and that the country “has an Emir” and the government is “obeyed”.
According to a statement issued by Mawlavi Abdul Kabir’s office, the deputy prime minister told DiCarlo: “The previous meeting in Doha was incomplete due to some shortcomings of its organizers, and the position of the Islamic Emirate should be accepted in the next meeting so that the delegation of the Islamic Emirate will participate in it.”
The Secretary General of the United Nations once expressed regret for the Islamic Emirate’s non-participation in the Doha meeting, but at the same time said that accepting the demands of the Islamic Emirate is equivalent to its recognition.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate is asking the United Nations and other countries to recognize them as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
Kabir said that the Islamic Emirate has fulfilled all its obligations and “rules over the entire geography of Afghanistan… There is a central government in all of Afghanistan that has an emir and is obeyed.”
The United Nations is expected to hold the third Doha meeting with the participation of special representatives of countries for Afghanistan, but it has not set a date for it yet.
The Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs of the United Nations meanwhile visited Kabul this week and invited the Islamic Emirate’s officials to participate in the Doha meeting.
According to the deputy prime minister’s office, DiCarlo informed Kabir about the Doha meeting and said that “the Islamic Emirate’s conditions for participating in this meeting are not difficult.”
She expressed hope that a delegation of the Islamic Emirate will participate.
She said that representatives of a number of international organizations and countries have been invited to the Doha meeting, including the World Bank.
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