Kabul, Afghanistan -- A suicide bomber detonated explosives Thursday inside a
French-funded school in Kabul during a play that condemns suicide attacks,
leading to deaths and numerous injuries, the French foreign minister said.
The attack happened at Istiqlal High
School, a school that includes a French cultural center, in the Afghan capital.
The Taliban -- the Islamist extremist group fighting against Afghanistan's
ruling government and firmly opposed by various Western powers -- claimed
responsibility, according to spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
Around 5 p.m., the theater at the
school in central Kabul was packed for a performance of a play titled
"Heartbeats: Silence after the Explosion." It abruptly ended about 30
minutes later with a very loud bang, a bright light, smoke and dust, according
to witness Zahir Sangar.
"When I tried to escape, I saw
tens of people covered in blood, some of them were screaming and some of them
were quiet," the student said.
Acting Afghan Interior Minister
Mohammad Ayoub Salangi said that one person was killed and 15 others injured in
the bombing.
French Foreign Minister Laurent
Fabius said a short time later that several people had died. It was not clear
exactly how many or whether the suicide bomber was among the fatalities, though
Fabius did say that no French citizens were among the casualties.
"All light must be shed on this
barbaric act," Fabius said. "And its perpetrators (must be)
identified and brought to justice."
The dead include a German national,
Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said.
French President Francois Hollande
also issued a statement condemning what he called a "heinous attack."
"By targeting this place of
dialogue," Hollande said, "it is the culture ... that terrorists have
targeted."
ContextImage : Source
COMMENTS