At least 25 killed, 52 wounded in blast near Kabul girls’ school

At least 25 people have been killed and 52 others wounded in an explosion near a high school for girls in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The Ministry of Interior (MOI) said the blast happened close to the Sayeed-ul-Shuhada School in the Dasht-e-Barchi area on Saturday afternoon.

MOI spokesperson Tariq Arian said the number of casualties could increase.

Officials have not revealed the cause of the explosion, or if there was a target. There has been no claim of responsibility yet.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mojahid denied involvement in the explosion in a message to the media.

According to Afghanistan’s Tolo News, the incident happened when students were leaving the school. “A car bomb blast happened first, and then two more explosions occurred near the girls school in Kabul,” said Ibrahim, a schoolteacher, according to Tolo. He added that the majority of victims are girls, Tolo reports.

Afghanistan has seen a spate of car bombings over the last few months, despite peace talks being underway between negotiation teams of the insurgent Taliban and the government in the Qatari capital of Doha.

Violence in the country, at war for two decades, remains unacceptably high, foreign governments and institutions say, calling for an immediate ceasefire between the Afghan government and Taliban.