France has condemned an attack on a French-run cultural institute and school in the Afghan capital of Kabul, in which several people were killed and many injured.
The attack was carried out by a teenage suicide bomber, who targeted the school during a music performance. An estimated 20 people were wounded.
It is the latest attack on a foreign target in the Afghan capital amid renewed Taliban insurgency. It follows a suicide bombing that targeted a military minibus earlier in the day.
The attack occurred in the amphitheatre of the French Cultural Centre, which is inside the grounds of the Estiqlal high school (also known as the Lycée Estiqlal). The school is run on contract by the French government.
Casualties to climb
Acting Afghan interior minister Mohammad Ayoub Salangi said the attacker was about 16-years-old. The minister also said that the number of casualties is expected to climb.
One eyewitness said the bomber walked into the amphitheatre as she was leaving and detonated his explosives inside the building.
Other witnesses said the explosion happened at the back of the hall, near television cameras and journalists who were covering the event.
The Afghan Journalists’ Association said at least two journalists were among the wounded in the attack.
The school, which is close to the presidential palace, was established in 1922 and taught all lessons through French until 1985.
It is administered by Afghanistan’s education ministry and is currently under contract to the French government’s Agency for Teaching French Abroad.
No French citizens were among the casualties.
Insurgent attacks
Insurgent attacks in the past month have killed a British embassy security guard and a South African charity worker and his two children.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the earlier minibus attack, in which s ix Afghan soldiers were killed.
Agencies