Kabul, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide bomber attacked an education center in the Shia neighborhood of the Afghan capital on Friday, killing 19 people, including 27 teenagers who were taking mock university entrance exams. People were injured, a Taliban spokesman said.

The central morning blast occurred in Kabul’s Dashti Balti district, which is populated mainly by the Hazaras, who belong to Afghanistan’s minority Shia community. The Islamic State group has carried out horrific attacks on schools, hospitals and mosques in Dashti Barchi and other Shia areas in recent years.

About 300 boys and girls who recently graduated from high school came to the Khaji Higher Education Center at 6:30 a.m. to take a mock exam, said 19-year-old Shafi Akbary, one of the survivors. said. This facility helps students prepare for entrance exams, study, etc.

Approximately one hour into the session, an explosion began.

“First, we heard a few gunshots at the main gate. Everyone was worried and tried to flee in other directions,” Akbary told the Associated Press by phone. “Shortly after that, there was a big explosion in the center.”

Ackbarry, who was unharmed, said he saw dozens of dead and wounded people scattered around him. “I was so scared I couldn’t even move myself to help them. Then other people came in and took us out,” he added. Akhbary said he has attended classes at the center for the past six months.

Khalid Zadran, the Taliban-appointed spokesman for the Kabul police and the casualty count, said the victims of the blast included students, but did not specify how many. He said education centers in the region should request additional security from the Taliban when hosting events that involve large gatherings, such as exam preparations on Friday.

Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafi Thakor later said police had arrested a suspect who may be involved in the attack. He was unable to provide an update on casualties.

No one was quick to claim responsibility for the attack. But the Taliban’s main rival, the Islamic State group, has waged an intensifying campaign of violence since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in August 2021.

Afghanistan’s Hazaras, mostly Shia Muslims, are frequent targets of violence. In Dashti Barki, IS attacked his maternity hospital in 2020, killing 24 of him, including newborns and mothers, and attacking a school in 2021, killing more than 90 of her, mostly female students. died. Minibus bombings have been frequent in the neighborhood, and earlier this year six people were killed in near-simultaneous attacks on a school and another education center.

Samira Hamidi, a South Asian activist for Amnesty International, said Friday’s attack “shows the complete failure of the Taliban as a de facto authority to protect the Afghan people.

She said the Taliban had taken few steps to protect Shiites and Hazaras in particular. she said.

Karen Decker, the US acting ambassador to Afghanistan, condemned Friday’s attack in a tweet.

“It is a disgrace to target a room full of students taking exams. All students should feel safe and fearless in their education,” she said. “I wish the victim a speedy recovery and my grief is with the family of the deceased,” she said.

UNICEF, the United Nations children’s agency, was appalled by Friday’s horrific attack.

Since coming to power, the Taliban have banned most girls above grade 6 from attending school. However, girls who graduate from high school can go to college.

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Faiz reported from Islamabad.