US calls for immediate end to violence in Afghanistan; condemns school attack

The United States on Saturday (local time) condemned the attack near a school in Afghanistan capital Kabul, which left 53 people dead and several others injured.

“The United States condemns the barbarous attack near a girls’ school in Kabul, Afghanistan. We offer our condolences to the victims, many of whom were children, and their families. We call for an immediate end to violence and the senseless targeting of innocent civilians,” said US State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

“We will continue to support and partner with the people of Afghanistan, who are determined to see to it that the gains of the past two decades are not erased,” he added.

The death toll from a series of blasts at a school in Kabul rose to 53 on Saturday, a source in the Ministry of Public Health told Sputnik.

At least three blasts happened near Sayed-ul-Shuhada High School in west of Kabul on Saturday afternoon, TOLO News reported citing the Interior Ministry.

The attack started with a car bomb explosion and was followed by two rocket attacks, sources said. No group or individual has so far claimed responsibility for the blasts. Moreover, the Taliban denied involvement in the attack.

This comes after US President Joe Biden had said that the United States will withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan before the 20th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks.

Meanwhile, as the United States’ “war on terror” enters a new phase as President Joe Biden has begun withdrawing all US forces from Afghanistan, al-Qaeda has claimed that its war with America is far from over.

In an exclusive interview with CNN conducted through intermediaries, an al-Qaeda official said that “war against the US will be continuing on all other fronts unless they are expelled from the rest of the Islamic world”.