AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): At least 50 children were among nearly 100 people wounded Monday when the Taliban detonated a powerful car bomb in an area of Kabul housing military and government buildings, officials said.
According to reports, 34 people were killed and 68 others injured after a powerful blast rocked the Afghan capital of Kabul on Monday, authorities said.
Among them were 50 children, the education ministry said in a statement, adding that most had been hurt by flying glass and were in stable condition.
Some social media images purportedly taken at a hospital showed wounded, stunned children in school uniforms, still clutching books as they arrived for treatment.
In its statement, the education ministry said five schools had been partially damaged, and asked "all sides involved in fighting to guarantee the safety of students, teachers, education workers and schools".
A witness told Xinhua news agency that militants had entered an under-construction building in the high security Pul-i-Mahmoud Khan area and were exchanging fire with the security forces who reached the area to control the situation.
According to the witness, the militants first detonated their explosives-laden car and then began firing.
The area is close to a branch of the the Defence Ministry building, a sports stadium, a branch of the Information and Culture Ministry and houses.
Following the explosion, which could be heard several kilometres away, a huge rising column of smoke could be seen, reports Efe news.
No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
Monday's attack comes when a Taliban delegation and US representatives are carrying out the seventh round of meetings in Qatar to discuss peace negotiations in Afghanistan.
