UNAMA: Facts in the incident in Kabul educational center have now became clear

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) says the Mission has now verified that 40 students were killed and 67 others were injured, the majority of whom were Shia young women and men, in the deadly attack targeting an educational center in a mainly Shia inhabited area in Kabul, Afghanistan.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) says the Mission has now verified that 40 students were killed and 67 others were injured, the majority of whom were Shia young women and men, in the deadly attack targeting an educational center in a mainly Shia inhabited area in Kabul, Afghanistan.

UNAMA in a statement said facts in the incident have now become clear. On the afternoon of 15 August, a suicide attacker walked into the Mahwood Education Centre and detonated an explosive vest in a classroom crowded with students who were preparing for their university entrance exams. The majority of those killed and injured were 16 to 20 years old Shias.

UNAMA further added that the Mahwood Education Centre, where the attack took place, is located in Kabul’s Dashti-i-Barchi neighborhood, which is densely populated by Afghanistan’s Shia minority community. UNAMA has documented several previous attacks deliberately carried out against this community.

Additional efforts to protect Shia places of worship were announced one year ago by the Government of Afghanistan, UNAMA said, adding that this week’s attack, however, marks the first time that students, many of them children, have been deliberately targeted.