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Indonesia condemns deadly attacks in Afghanistan
In a statement released late on Sunday night, the Foreign Ministry said: “Our heartfelt condolences and sympathy go out to the families of the victims and the people of Afghanistan."
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Onlookers stand near the site of yesterday's multiple blasts outside a girls' school in Dasht-e-Barchi on the outskirts of Kabul in Afghanistan on Sunday, as the death toll has risen to 50, the interior ministry said. (AFP/Wakil Kohsar)
Indonesia has condemned a series of attacks in Kabul that killed dozens of people, mostly students, making it the bloodiest terrorist act in more than a year and complicating a delicate peace process that Jakarta has been involved in over the past few years.
In a statement released by the government on Sunday night, the Foreign Ministry said: “Our heartfelt condolences and sympathy go out to the families of the victims and the people of Afghanistan."
A series of blasts outside a school on Saturday, during a peak holiday shopping period, killed more than 50 people, mostly female students, and wounded over 100 in Dasht-e-Barchi, a west Kabul suburb populated mostly by Hazara Shiites, AFP reported. Hazaras are Shiite Muslims and considered heretic by extremist Sunnis. Sunni Muslims make up the majority of Afghanistan’s population.
The Afghan government, led by President Ashraf Ghani, blamed the Taliban, but the insurgents denied responsibility and issued a statement saying the nation needed to "safeguard and look after educational centers and institutions".
Saturday’s blasts were the worst attack since the start of intra-Afghan negotiations last year, a landmark process only made possible after the United States promised the Taliban that it would withdraw its forces starting this month. However, Washington pushed back the date to Sept. 11 -- a move that has angered the insurgents, and violence has since soared.
Afghanistan interior ministry said on Monday that at least 11 people were killed by a bomb that struck a bus overnight in southeastern Zabul province, just hours before the Taliban announced a three-day ceasefire to mark this week’s Idul Fitri holiday.
