Blast at Kabul School Leaves Several Injured in Western District

Several people have reportedly suffered injuries following an explosion in a western district of the Afghan capital Kabul on Monday. The blast occurred at the private "Shama-e Hidayat" school and educational institution in the Mahdia neighbourhood of the Dasht-e-Barchi area at approximately 4:30pm local time (12:00pm GMT).

According to news outlets, multiple students were injured in the incident. Eyewitness accounts cited by Hasht-e Subh Daily indicated that several students had been transferred to Alami Hospital. At the time of reporting, the exact number of casualties and the official cause of the explosion remained unidentified, and it was unclear if any fatalities had occurred. Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify the reports or confirm the details, and government officials had not yet issued a comment.

Footage shared by the London-based Afghanistan International showed crowds of people gathered around ambulances near the location of the reported explosion. The blast is believed to have taken place as the schoolday concluded, with children making up the majority of the injured. Local outlets including Kabul Now and TOLOnews reported that the explosion was caused by a hand grenade.

The Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood is predominantly inhabited by Afghanistan’s Hazara minority group. The Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), affiliated with ISIL, has previously targeted Afghanistan’s Hazara community and other religious minorities in attacks on mosques, schools, and workplaces.