Attack on Kabul, Afghanistan, tutoring center kills 18

Oct. 24 (UPI) -- An attack on a Kabul, Afghanistan, tutoring center Saturday killed 18 and wounded 57 others amid negotiations between the U.S.-backed Afghan government and the Taliban.

The Taliban denied responsibility for the attack, while government and U.S. officials had called for calm during negotiations in Qatar. Those calls, though, have not stopped the violence in provinces throughout Afghanistan.

"Ambulances are still transferring the bodies,"Abuzar Motaqi, a hospital official, said. "Most of them are very young."

Someone at the Kawsar Education Center recognized the suspect along a narrow street near the school as he tried to enter. The suspect set off a suicide vest just outside the facility. Another explosion at an education center in 2018 killed 48 students.

"After a week of horrific violence across Afghanistan, [the attack] drains every last ounce of energy and hope," said Sharhzad Akbar, chair of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.

In another attack south of Kabul on Saturday, at least eight civilians were killed in a roadside bomb blast in Ghazni City. Six security personnel who were protecting the Kamal Khan dam in Nimroz province died in the militant attack.

High Council of National Reconciliation head Abdullah Abdullah condemned the school attack saying it violated Islamic principles and values.