At least 50 children injured in Taliban attack in Kabul

Some images of social media allegedly taken at a hospital showed wounded and stunned children dressed in school uniforms, still holding books while waiting for their treatment.

Kabul:

At least 50 children were among more than 100 wounded on Monday when the Taliban detonated a powerful car bomb in Kabul, officials said, which is the latest deadly attack in one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

Save the Children led the international condemnation of the explosion that targeted a Ministry of Defence building, which had thrown a cloud of smoke into the air during peak hours and shook buildings about two kilometres away.

Armed men then stormed a nearby building and launched a special forces battle in the Puli Mahmood Khan neighbourhood of the Afghan capital.

According to officials, the five assailants were killed and a clean-up operation is underway.

According to the Ministry of Health, at least three people were killed, including a child, and 116 injured, but this figure is expected to change once the clearing operation is completed.

In a statement, the Ministry of Education reported that 50 children among the injured were injured by broken glass and were in stable condition.

Some images of social media allegedly taken at a hospital showed wounded and stunned children dressed in school uniforms, still holding books while waiting for their treatment.

In its statement, the ministry of Education stated that five schools were partially damaged and had requested "all the parties involved in the fighting to ensure the safety of students, teachers, education workers and schools'.

Save the Children said in a statement that "smaller body suffer more severe injuries than adults" and that the trauma caused by such attacks can last for years.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place just two days after the start of the seventh round of talks with the United States in Qatar, while Washington foresaw a breakthrough before the Afghan presidential election in September.

"We were sitting inside the office when the world upset us," said Zaher Usman, an employee of a branch of the Ministry of Culture, who was only 150 meters away from the explosion.

"When I opened my eyes, the office was full of smoke and dust and everything was broken, my colleagues were screaming," Usman said on the phone.

AFP journalists could hear gunshots and several small explosions for hours after the initial explosion, before the announcement of the clean-up operation. The Ministry of the Interior stated that 210 civilians had been rescued from nearby buildings.

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Shams Amini, a spokesperson for the Afghan football Federation, told AFP that the explosion occurred near the doors of their headquarters and that some of his colleagues were injured.

The nearby Shamshad television station, which was attacked in 2017, broadcast images of broken glass and damage to its offices. "I was terrified," Hashmat Stanikzai, Shamshad's host, told AFP. A media watchdog said seven journalists from Shamshad were among the injured.

The attack took place as the United States prepared to begin a third day of negotiations with the terrorists in Doha.

As the attack continued, the Taliban spokesman in Doha again insisted that the insurgents would not negotiate with Kabul.

"Once the timetable for the withdrawal of foreign forces is set in the presence of international observers, we will begin talks with the Afghan parties, but we will not talk to the Kabul administration as a government," tweeted Suhail Shaheen.

A potential deal would see the United States agree to withdraw its troops after more than 17 years in Afghanistan, raising serious concerns among Afghans who fear that Washington will rush out and allow militants to regain a semblance of power.

On the other hand, the Taliban would ensure that the country would never again become a refuge for violent extremism, as was the case with Al-Qaeda before the attacks of 11 September 2001.