A suicide bomber struck at a high school
attached to the French cultural centre in
Kabul on Thursday, killing at least one person
and wounding 15 others, officials said.
The attack came just hours after another
suicide bomber targeted a bus carrying
Afghan troops in the suburbs of the city,
killing at least six soldiers.
The Afghan capital has been hit by a series
of deadly Taliban attacks in recent weeks,
highlighting the fragility of the security
situation as NATO combat forces leave after
more than a decade of war.
Police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi told
reporters the bomber blew himself up in the
audience watching a theatre show at the
Istiqlal High School which is attached to the
French cultural centre.
“A suicide bomber blew himself up among the
audience in Istiqlal High School (French
Cultural Center),” Afghan interior ministry
spokesman Sediqi Sediqqi told reporters.
Deputy Interior Minister Mohammed Ayub
Salangi said at least one person was killed
and 15 others were wounded in the attack.
The toll was confirmed by another police
official.
The cultural centre is located in the centre of
Kabul, not far from the presidential palace
and shares its grounds with the Istiqlal
school, a French-financed institution that has
taught generations of Afghan children.
Originally opened in 1970, the cultural centre
was forced to close between 1983 and 2002
as Afghanistan was torn apart by a series of
wars.
It reopened in 2003 and was revamped in
2010. The growing spate of deadly attacks in
Kabul in recent weeks has heightened
concerns that Afghanistan could tip into a
spiral of violence as the US-led military
presence declines.
Militants have targeted foreign guest houses,
embassy vehicles, US troops and Afghan
army buses in Kabul over the past month,
undermining claims that the insurgency is
weakening as NATO’s 13-year war end
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