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Kabul Suicide Blast Kills 48

by Ayesha Tanzeem

   A suicide bomb blast inside one of Kabul's educational institutions
   killed at least 48 people and wounded dozens of others.

   Hashmatullah Stanikzai a spokesman for the Kabul police, said the
   attack happened around 4pm local time while students were attending
   classes. The injured have been taken to local hospitals.
   Mowoud Academy is in a Shi'ite dominated part of Kabul. While no group
   has taken responsibility for this attack yet, previous attacks on
   Shi'ites in Kabul have been claimed by Islamic State.

   The Taliban denied involvement in Wednesday's blast.
   The attack on Kabul comes at a time when the government is already
   facing heavy pressure from the Taliban on multiple fronts.
   A pre-dawn raid by the Taliban on a military base in Baghlan, in
   northern Afghanistan, killed 40 security forces personnel.
   Government forces have also been in an intense fight for the control of
   Ghazni city which Taliban raided last Friday. The United Nations has
   warned that days of fighting has led to a humanitarian crisis for the
   civilian population which is facing electricity outages and shortages
   of food and water.