Winter storm warnings continue in northern Minnesota 

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

A bombing near a school in Kabul on Saturday killed at least 50 people, many of them young students.

At least 100 people were wounded in the attack, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian, the Associated Press reported. He told the AP that casualties could continue to rise.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. 

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani blamed the Taliban, but a

 condemned the attack and denied responsibility. Islamic State militants have also carried out attacks in the area in the past.

Female students may have been targeted. The Sayed Ul-Shuhada high school teaches boys and girls, but not together. Girls attend classes in the afternoon when the explosion occurred.

It happened in the Kabul district of Dasht-e-Barchi, where gunmen 

 in a hospital maternity ward one year ago. Among the victims were newborns, their mothers and the nurses who had been supporting them. 

 all their remaining troops from Afghanistan. President Joe Biden says he is aiming to complete the drawdown by Sept. 11, marking the end a 20-year war.

 "the Taliban is likely to make gains on the battlefield, and the Afghan government will struggle to hold the Taliban at bay if the coalition withdraws support." 

Deadly attacks in Afghanistan have increased in recent days.

 that for the week ending May 6, "at least 140 pro-government forces and 44 civilians were killed in Afghanistan ... the highest death toll in a single week since October."

When Biden announced the drawdown last month, 

 the U.S. will "keep providing assistance" to Afghan security forces, and reorganize U.S. counterterrorism forces "over the horizon," to prevent Afghanistan from again becoming a safe haven for terrorists planning attacks against the U.S. 

Former President Donald Trump had pledged a full withdrawal of U.S. troops by May 1, a deadline Biden had said would be tough to meet.

The Taliban opposes most education for women and girls. 

Ross Wilson, the U.S. chargé d'affaires in Kabul, 

"This unforgivable attack on children is an assault on Afghanistan's future, which cannot stand," he wrote. 

Amy Held

Author

A bombing near a school in Kabul on Saturday killed at least 50 people. Female students may have been targeted. The school teaches boys and girls, but not together. Girls attend classes in the afternoon, when the explosion occurred.

Bombing near Kabul school kills at least 50, many of them female students

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox