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Bullet-scarred walls, blood-stained floors bear testimony to deadly attack
Bullet-riddled walls, blown out ceilings and blood spattered floors were on Tuesday stark testimony to the carnage caused by attackers who went on a shooting rampage at Kabul University on Monday.
Video footage and photographs taken by Ariana journalists in the classrooms at the Law Faculty paint an extremely disturbing picture, driving home the fact that the majority of those killed were young students in their early 20s who were robbed of their dreams and aspirations by the ruthless killers.
In the 24 hours since the end of the six-hour siege, messages of condolences and condemnation flooded social media and while Tuesday was declared a day of mourning in Afghanistan, many foreign embassies flew their flags at half mast in solidarity with a grieving nation.
Officials have put the death toll at 22 but sources told Reuters earlier Tuesday that 30 died in the carnage.
One of the students killed in Monday’s attack was due to marry on Thursday. All his classmates were invited but instead, a funeral was held in place of a wedding. On Tuesday, the shocking reality of this was visible in the blood spattered copies of his wedding invitations that were strewn across a classroom floor.
“Each of our classes had 50 to 70 students, many of whom were victims,” said Saifullah Mohammadi, a gardener at the law faculty.
One student who survived was stunned that the university had come under attack. He said: “It was horrible, I could not believe that university could be targeted.”
This is the second education facility to be targeted in just over a week – and in both cases ISIS (Daesh) claimed responsibility.
However, Afghanistan’s outspoken First Vice President Amrullah Saleh has dismissed the Taliban’s claims of not being involved and has blamed the insurgent group for Monday’s attack.
In a tweet early Tuesday morning, Saleh said a Taliban negotiator in Doha stated in an exclusive interview that “only the Taliban have the monopoly over violence against government. There is no one else.”
Saleh went on to say: “Today they shamelessly disclaim responsibility for massacre of Kabul Uni students. Taliban, their allies & backers are responsible.”
Nader Nadery, a member of the Afghan peace talks team also commented on Twitter and said late Tuesday “Kabul University is a symbol of unity & national identity, a home to many generations of Afghans, poor & rich, a compass of moral authority, a place for brotherhood & sisterhood that ties our people together over a century.
“The atrocity committed against it yesterday is an attack on the soul of our nation. While we all are mourning, we must not give in to what terrorists want: we must make sure to keep the door of this sacred place open. This will be the best way to avenge loss of those innocent souls,” Nadery tweeted.
He also stated that those responsible must be brought to justice.
“To end this senseless violence, an immediate ceasefire is a must so a dignified peace could be achieved. We/ IRoA team showed every sign of urgency in this regard, will the other side show the same & prove that it was not them?” he questioned.
A senior Red Cross official has called for the return of Afghan refugees from Pakistan to occur “in a more staggered way” so Afghanistan can better absorb them.
“It will be important to work with the government of Pakistan in 2024 to ask that if there are going to be returnees,” that they arrive “in smaller numbers at a time just so it is more manageable on the Afghan side,” said Alexander Matheou, regional director, Asia Pacific Region for the International Federation of the Red Cross, Voice of America (VOA) reported on Saturday.
Speaking in the Qatari capital, Doha, Matheou told journalists on Friday the challenges facing Afghan returnees from Pakistan was one of several pressing issues he discussed with the officials of the Islamic Emirate in Kabul.
“You will be aware that over half a million have crossed the border over recent months, and it is likely that we will see large numbers of new arrivals in the coming months,” he said.
“I imagine this is probably the largest population flow in a short period of time in Asia since the population movement from Myanmar into Bangladesh in 2017,” he added. “So, it is a significant event.”
Since October, Pakistan has expelled more than 500,000 Afghan refugees who lacked proper documentation.
Matheou noted many of the returnees have lived in Pakistan for decades and are ill-equipped to begin a new life in a country that to them is unknown, without government or international support.
He described the returnees as being in generally poor health, especially the children, who account for nearly half of all returnees.
“The evidence of that was we visited clinics where they reported a real spike in cases of acute malnutrition coming from the arrivals from Pakistan.
“We visited routine immunization programs of the IFRC and the Afghan Red Crescent in the villages, and there it was clear looking at the children that as well as being anemic, you could see wasting and stunting among the children,” he said.
Turkmenistan is committed to complete the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan– Pakistan–India (TAPI) energy project together with the regional countries, Muhammetmyrat Amanov, CEO of TAPI Pipeline Company Limited, said.
“Turkmenistan is making significant progress on the TAPI natural gas pipeline, which aims to supply 33 billion cubic meters annually to South Asia” Amanov said speaking at the Turkmen Energy Investment Forum (TEIF 2024) in Paris.
He highlighted that the Turkmenistan section of the pipeline is complete and the ongoing discussions to advance the project beyond Turkmenistan are in strict alignment with international standards.
Amanov said the project emphasizes environmental sustainability by leveraging natural gas to reduce emissions significantly compared to coal and oil, thereby tackling indoor pollution and enhancing regional air quality.
“In light of the ongoing project developments, Turkmenistan remains committed to upholding international law, fulfilling its obligations, and adhering to international norms and regulations,” he stressed.
Three road construction projects worth about one billion Afghanis started in capital Kabul on Saturday.
The projects were inaugurated by Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
The projects are: the second phase of Kotal Khairkhane road, the first part of the Shahid square to Qasaba, and the Airport road to Gumruk.
In the inauguration ceremony, Mullah Baradar said that Kabul municipality is working hard to beautify and regulate the city, and people should cooperate with the government in protecting public benefit projects.
He directed the officials of Kabul municipality to complete the mentioned projects on time and with good quality.
The second phase of Kotel Khairkhaneh road is 2.5 kilometers long and 60 meters wide. Thie road will cost 364 million Afghanis and will be completed in 20 months.
The Shahid square-Qasaba road is 1.8 kilometers long and 45 meters wide, which will be built at a cost of 175 million Afghanis in one year.
The Airport-Gumruk road is 2.7 km long and 60 meters wide, which will be completed at a cost of 407 million Afghanis in 20 months.
The projects are funded by Kabul Municipality.
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