Perpetrators of Kabul terrorist attack must be identified: Alemi Balkhi

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): On the 40th day of the terrorist attack on Sayed Al-Shuhada Girls’ High School in Dasht-e Barchi, Kabul, and the martyrdom of tens of innocent fasting student girls, a commemoration ceremony, organized by the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, was held on Thursday, June 17, 202. The ceremony was a part of a series of AhlulBayt’s virtual meetings on the subject of “Why the Shiites are oppressed in Afghanistan; Strategies to strengthen the Shiite community.”

At the meeting, referring to the martyrs of the Kabul terrorist incident, Seyyed Hossein Alemi Balkhi, former Minister of Refugees of Afghanistan and a member of the General Assembly of the Ahl al-Bayt (a.s.) World Assembly said, “The martyrs of this terrorist attack are different from the martyrs of other attacks. Because they were from a religious community that lived in the same area. In this attack, a certain religious group was attacked. As the second fact about the Kabul terrorist attack, its target was children under the age of 18, between the ages of 7 and 16. The attack killed 90 students, and injured more than 250.”

“In the terrorist attack in Kabul, some people went missing, and their fate is not known whether they were martyred or fell into the hands of those who sought to exploit the attack. Another characteristic of this incident was that no group specifically claimed responsibility for it. The government claimed that the perpetrator of this terrorist attack was the Taliban. But the Taliban accused the Afghan government of carrying out the attack. The government argued that because the Taliban had no achievement on the battlefield, it attacked children to spread fear to attain more achievements in the negotiations. On the other hand, the Taliban argued that the Afghan government carries out such attacks because it is incapable of fighting on the battlefield and had nothing to say in the peace talks. Some also said that ISIL carried out the terrorist attack to take revenge on the Shiites,” he continued.

“ISIL has carried out similar attacks before the recent terrorist operation. Recently, a senior Afghan government official pursuing security issues said that ISIL is targeting Shiites everywhere. It does not matter to them whether these Shiites are women, children, or men, it attacks them everywhere. One week before the terrorist attack on the Sayed Al-Shuhada Girls’ High School, a senior Afghan official said that ISIL had said in a message that the group would attack the country’s Shiites if the group’s prisoners were not released by the government,” said the former Minister of Refugees of Afghanistan.

“The perpetrators of this terrorist attack think that the Shiites of Afghanistan are helpless people, and there are benefits of terrorist attacks against them. At a recent press conference, the Council of Shiite Ulama of Afghanistan made some demands. According to the council, the terrorist attacks in the Shiite areas are genocide against the Shiites, and it is the duty of the Afghan government to ensure the security of the Shiites. The Council of Shiite Ulama of Afghanistan believes that the Afghan government has not met expectations,” stated Alami Balkhi, recognizing the Kabul terrorist attack as a shameful act.

“The Afghan Shiite Ulema Council has three specific demands on the Afghan government. Ensuring the security of the citizens of the country is one of the government’s duties, and in this regard, the Afghan government has not done its job well. It needs to provide more security. Previously, a security plan was submitted to the government by the Security Coordination Commission. This plan must be implemented, and if the government does not consider this plan appropriate, it should present an alternative plan. If the government does not act in this regard, measures must be devised to solve the problems through the local defense,” he continued.

“We need the clarification on the terrorist attack in Kabul. It is the duty of the government to determine who is the perpetrator of the attack, and if the perpetrators are in areas controlled by the Afghan government, they should be punished, and if they are not in these areas, they should be identified so that this crime can be pursued in the international community, and declared as genocide. These are expectations of the people of Afghanistan from the government. Also, the situation of the missing people in the terrorist attack in Kabul should be determined,” added the member of the General Assembly of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly.

It should be mentioned that on the evening of Saturday, May 8, 2021, 85 people were martyred and more than 150 were injured in three consecutive explosions in front of Sayed al-Shuhada High School in the west of Kabul (Dasht-e Barchi). The bombings took place in the 13th security district west of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. As the school closed and students left, a Toyota Corolla car bomb exploded at the entrance to a clinic connected to the school. Then, as the students were fleeing, two landmines exploded in their path.

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