16 students killed, over 24 injured in blast at Afghanistan’s madrasa

New Delhi: At least 16 students were killed Wednesday when a bomb blast hit a Madrasa in northern Afghanistan.

Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafi Takor said that more than two dozen students were injured in the blast at madrassa in Aybak, capital of the northern Samangan province.

No outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack as yet. But the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State group has been carrying out such attacks ever 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.