Bombings target education centers in Kabul; several dead

April 19 (UPI) -- Multiple explosions targeting education centers in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Tuesday killed at least six people, including students, officials said.

The bombs exploded at a high school and another education center, authorities said.

The attacks occurred in the Dasht-i-Barchi area of Kabul, where many in the minority Shia Hazara community live. The group has been targeted by extremists in the past, but no one immediately claimed responsibility for Tuesday's blasts.

Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran announced the death toll on Twitter and said the explosions targeted Abdul Rahim Shaheed High School and the Mumtaz Educational Center, stating six people were killed.

"Security forces are currently on the scene and an investigation has been launched into the attack," he said.

The United Nations Mission to Afghanistan later said dozens were also injured in the blasts with several of the wounded in critical conduction.

The high school was hit by the explosions as students were exiting morning classes, it said, adding that the initial blast was followed by further explosions a few kilometers away near the education center.

"On behalf of the entire humanitarian community in Afghanistan, I extend my sincere condolences to all those affected, and to the families of those killed," Ramiz Alakbarov, the U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan, said in a statement. "Violence in or around schools is never acceptable. For the people of Afghanistan, already beleaguered by 40 years of war, schools should be safe havens, and places where children can learn and flourish."

In a statement on Twitter, the mission demanded for those responsible to be brought to justice.

"Afghanistan's ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity is at great risk," Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, said in a statement condemning the attack. "It must be respected and kept safe."

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price also condemned the attack in a statement.

"All Afghan children deserve to pursue their studies safely and without fear of violence," he said.

ISIS-K has been attached to similar bombings since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last year. The group, which practices the Shiite form of Islam, are often at odds with those who follow the Shia form of Islam.

With 16,000 students, the Shaheed school is one of the largest in Kabul. Boys and girls are separately schooled there through sixth grade. Only boys progress beyond sixth grade under Taliban rules.