Veronika Eschbacher
It was the first time that the young student from Afghanistan’s capital Kabul had to wash corpses. All other women in the mosque in the west of the city fainted after the attack, reports Hasiba. And the dead girls would have had so many wounds. And just didn’t stop bleeding.
The Muslim girls whose bodies the student ritually cleaned were victims of the first major attack in Afghanistan since the international troops began to withdraw in early May. On Saturday afternoon, within a few minutes, a car bomb and two mines detonated near a large school in the west of the city – just as classes were over and hundreds of children were pouring out of the school.
The Afghan Interior Ministry put the number of deaths on Sunday, almost 24 hours after the attack, at more than 50. According to eyewitnesses, a large number of young girls were under the age of 16. At least 100 people were injured that bloody afternoon. Many are still in hospitals. It is feared that the death toll will rise in the course of the next few days. In Kabul, one of the most dangerous places in the world, they have experience with such things.
Hundreds of people gathered at the site of the attack in the Dascht-e Bartschi district on Sunday. There were still dozens of girls’ shoes, bloodstained exercise books, and torn rucksacks there. Men wiped tears from their eyes with handkerchiefs. Little girls, only six or seven years old, were holding hands. Several men expressed their anger. A passerby complained: “They should kill us men. What sin have these young girls committed? “
Dascht-e Bartschi is mostly inhabited by Shiite Hasara. In the past, there have been repeated attacks on civilian facilities such as educational centers and sports clubs there. The Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia claimed many of them for itself. Sunni extremists like the members of the IS militia fight Shiites as apostates, even though they are also Muslims.
In the past, residents have repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the security situation. The security forces would not take care of them properly, it was said. There is great distrust of their own government. That was also evident on Sunday. Eyewitnesses said it took half an hour or even a full hour for the emergency services to get there. Security forces have not come for a long time.
Mohammed Risa Amiri said that a large number of the injured were brought to the hospitals by local residents in rickshaws and private cars. A spokesman for the Ministry of Health reported that ambulance drivers were beaten on site.
It is still unclear who is behind the attack. At first nobody accused themselves. The militant Islamist Taliban denied participation. The Interior Ministry, however, stated that the attack was undoubtedly an action by the militant Islamist Taliban. The Afghan government always says that only the Taliban have the skills to carry out massive attacks.
ISIS has lost territories, fighters and leaders in Afghanistan; In addition to the Afghan government and the US military, the Taliban are also fighting the extremists. According to a UN report from 2020, however, ISIS is still able to carry out attacks in various parts of the country. Most recently, ISIS had in fact again claimed an increasing number of attacks, including on the University of Kabul.
From the perspective of Afghanistan expert Thomas Ruttig, the attack bears the signature of IS. But one cannot rule out acts of sabotage by forces that are not interested in the inner-Afghan peace negotiations. Negotiations between the government and the Taliban have been ongoing in the Gulf emirate of Qatar since September last year. “Mutual accusations are part of psychological warfare,” says Ruttig. Therefore, an independent investigation into the attack is necessary.
With the attack, concerns are increasing again that the IS or other terrorist groups will regain strength after the withdrawal of the international troops and will find new places of retreat. US officials have also admitted that the withdrawal will limit the collection of intelligence information as a basis for successfully combating terrorist groups. The 10,000 or so soldiers from the USA and other NATO countries are said to have left the country by September 11th at the latest.
The attack was condemned internationally. The US ambassador to Kabul, Ross Wilson, described it as a “hideous attack” on the future of Afghanistan. Pope Francis also remembered the victims. He spoke of an “inhuman act”. Hasiba, who had to wash the girl’s corpses, says she doesn’t know much about politics. But she too has doubts that Afghanistan can cope with all these threats on its own.