United Nations raises Kabul classroom bombing death toll to 35 as women protest against ‘genocide’
- UN mission says there are at least 35 fatalities, with an additional 82 wounded; more than 20 of those killed were girls and women
- Dozens of women defy a Taliban ban on rallies to protest against the latest bloodshed in their community, carrying banners that read: ‘Stop killing Hazaras’
On Friday a suicide attacker blew himself up in a Kabul study hall as hundreds of pupils were taking tests in preparation for university entrance exams in the city’s Dasht-e-Barchi area.
The western neighbourhood is a predominantly Shiite Muslim enclave and home to the minority Hazara community – a historically oppressed group that has been targeted in some of Afghanistan’s most brutal attacks in recent years.
More than 20 of those killed were girls and women, it said.
The UN mission’s casualty figure is higher than the toll Kabul authorities have given.
An interior ministry official said anonymously on Saturday that 25 people were killed and 33 wounded in the attack on the Kaaj Higher Educational Centre – updating an earlier toll of 20 killed and 27 wounded.