ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office has strongly condemned the “reprehensible” attack at a school in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul.
Explosions caused by a car bomb and mortars outside a school in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday killed at least 68 people and wounded over 150, mostly female students, officials said.
“The government and the people of Pakistan offer heartfelt condolences to the government and the people of Afghanistan and pray for quick recovery of the injured,” the statement issued Saturday evening said.
The bombing on Saturday evening shook the city’s Shia Muslim neighbourhood of Dasht-e-Barchi. The community, a religious minority in Afghanistan, has been targeted in the past by Daesh militants.
“Pakistan condemns terrorism in all forms and manifestations,” the FO said, adding that at this moment of grief, Pakistan stands by the Afghan people in their struggle against the scourge of terrorism.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday blamed the attack on Taliban insurgents but Zabihullah Mujahid — a spokesman for the militant group — denied involvement, saying it condemns any attacks on Afghan civilians.
Families of the victims blamed the Afghan government and Western powers for failing to put an end to violence and the ongoing war.
The violence comes a week after remaining US and NATO troops began exiting Afghanistan, with a mission to complete the drawdown by September 11, which will mark the end of America’s longest war.
But the foreign troop withdrawal has led to a surge in fighting between Afghan security forces and the Taliban with both sides trying to retain control over strategic centres.
The Taliban has conducted sputtering talks with the Afghan government, begun under the Trump deal, since last fall. It was also invited to an additional high-level inter-Afghan discussion in Turkey later in April but it refused to attend until the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.
The FO statement also reiterated Islamabad’s resolve to continue to support Afghanistan on its path to peace, progress and prosperity.
