Explosion reported at school in Afghan capital Kabul

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported that several people, including students, were said to have been injured in an explosion at a school in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday. The blast was reported in the Dasht-e-Barchi area of western Kabul, with accounts placing it at about 4:30pm local time, near the end of the school day.

According to the report, the incident involved the private Shama-e Hidayat school and educational institution in the Mahdia neighbourhood. Eyewitnesses and local media said some injured students were taken to Alami Hospital, but the total number of casualties was not confirmed. Al Jazeera said it could not verify the reports independently, and Taliban authorities had not commented at the time of publication.

The cause of the explosion also remained unclear. Some Kabul-based outlets cited by Al Jazeera said it may have been caused by a hand grenade, but that detail was not confirmed by the publisher. The report said the area is largely home to Afghanistan’s Hazara minority, and noted that Islamic State in Khorasan Province has previously attacked schools and other civilian sites in Afghanistan. This wider context underscores why any strike on a school in the district draws concern, particularly if children were among those affected.