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Agencies

A blast tore though a religious school during prayer time in the northern Afghan province of Samangan on Wednesday, killing at last 15 people, a provincial spokesperson said.
More than 20 people were also wounded in the explosion in the provincial capital of Aybak, added Emdadullah Muhajir, spokesperson for Samangan’s provincial government.
“A blast took place around 12.45pm inside Jahdia Madrassa in the centre of city. Lots of boys are studying at this madrasa [religious school],” he said.
A doctor in Aybak, about 200 kilometres (130 miles) north of the capital Kabul, said the casualties were mostly youngsters.
“All of them are children and ordinary people,” he said, asking not to be named.
A provincial official confirmed the blast, but could not provide casualty figure. It was not immediately clear who was behind the blast. Muhajir said an investigation had begun.
Bombing at Kabul mosque kills 21, including prominent cleric
Interior ministry spokesperson Abdul Nafi Takor confirmed the blast but put the death toll so far at 10 with more injured.
“Our detective and security forces are working to identify the perpetrators of this unforgivable crime and bring them to justice,” Takor said.
Prayer mats, shattered glass and other debris littered the scene.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State group has been waging a campaign of violence that escalated since the Taliban took power in August 2021.
IS has carried out bombings targeting in particular Afghanistan’s Shiite Muslim minority but has also targeted Sunni mosques and madrassas, especially ones connected to the Taliban. The Taliban and the Islamic State group both adhere to a hard-line ideology but are bitter rivals.
Aybak is a small but ancient provincial capital that came to prominence as a caravan stopping post for traders during the fourth and fifth centuries when it was also an important Buddhist centre.
There has been a lull of a few weeks between major blasts targeting civilians in Afghanistan, although several Taliban fighters have been killed in isolated attacks.


In September, at least 54 people – including 51 girls and young women – were killed when a suicide bomber detonated a device at a hall in Kabul packed with hundreds of students sitting a practice test for university admissions.
No group claimed responsibility for that bombing, but the Taliban later blamed Islamic State and said it had killed several ringleaders.
In May last year, before the Taliban’s return to power, at least 85 people – mainly girls – were killed and about 300 were wounded when three bombs exploded near their school in the neighbourhood
No group claimed responsibility, but a year earlier IS claimed a suicide attack on an educational centre in the area that killed 24.
The Taliban’s return to power brought an end to their insurgency, but IS continues to stage attacks across the country.
The Taliban movement – made up primarily of ethnic Pashtuns – has pledged to protect minorities and clamp down on security threats.


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More than 20 people were also wounded in the explosion at a religious school in the ancient provincial capital of Aybak, which was once a Buddhist community
Nobody claimed responsibility for the blast, but IS stages attacks across the country despite the Taliban’s return to power bringing an end to its insurgency



More than 20 people were also wounded in the explosion at a religious school in the ancient provincial capital of Aybak.
