Blasts Near Kabul Schools Kill at Least 6 Civilians, Hurt 11

Medical staff move a wounded youth on a stretcher inside a hospital, Kabul, Afghanistan, April 19, 2022. (AFP)
Medical staff move a wounded youth on a stretcher inside a hospital, Kabul, Afghanistan, April 19, 2022. (AFP)
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Blasts Near Kabul Schools Kill at Least 6 Civilians, Hurt 11

Medical staff move a wounded youth on a stretcher inside a hospital, Kabul, Afghanistan, April 19, 2022. (AFP)
Medical staff move a wounded youth on a stretcher inside a hospital, Kabul, Afghanistan, April 19, 2022. (AFP)

Explosions targeting educational institutions killed at least six people, including students, and injured 11 Tuesday in a mostly Shiite neighborhood of Afghanistan's capital city, police said.

The blasts, which occurred in rapid succession, were being investigated and more casualties were feared, according to Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran and the city's Emergency Hospital. Several of the wounded were in critical condition.

The explosions occurred inside the Abdul Rahim Shaheed High School and near the Mumtaz Education Center several kilometers (miles) away, both in the predominately Shiite neighborhood of Dasht-e-Barchi. There were no immediate reports of casualties at the Mumtaz Center.

Guards in the narrow street leading to the two-story high school said they saw 10 casualties. Inside the school, an Associated Press video journalist saw walls splattered with blood, burned notebooks and children's shoes.

The AP spoke to several private guards in the area but they refused to give their names, fearing repercussions from the Taliban security force cordoning off the area.

It appeared a suicide bomber blew himself up inside the sprawling compound, which can house up to 1,000 students, witnesses said. It wasn't immediately clear how many children were in the school at the time of the explosion.

The school is teaching students only until the sixth grade after Afghanistan's hardline Taliban rulers went back on a promise to allow all girls to attend school.

No one has immediately claimed responsibility. The area has been targeted in the past by Afghanistan’s deadly ISIS affiliate.



US Urges China to Dissuade Iran from Closing Strait of Hormuz

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at the American Compass fifth anniversary gala at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., US, June 3, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at the American Compass fifth anniversary gala at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., US, June 3, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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US Urges China to Dissuade Iran from Closing Strait of Hormuz

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at the American Compass fifth anniversary gala at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., US, June 3, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at the American Compass fifth anniversary gala at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., US, June 3, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday called on China to encourage Iran to not shut down the Strait of Hormuz after Washington carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

Rubio's comments on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo" show came after Iran's Press TV reported that the Iranian parliament approved a measure to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of global oil and gas flows.

"I encourage the Chinese government in Beijing to call them about that, because they heavily depend on the Straits of Hormuz for their oil," said Rubio, who also serves as national security adviser, Reuters reported.

"If they do that, it will be another terrible mistake. It's economic suicide for them if they do it. And we retain options to deal with that, but other countries should be looking at that as well. It would hurt other countries' economies a lot worse than ours."

Rubio said a move to close the strait would be a massive escalation that would merit a response from the US and others.