Kabul (Afghanistan) | Jagran News Desk: At least 55 lost their lives while over 150 were injured on Saturday in a series of explosions in Afghanistan's Kabul. The officials said that the attack was carried out near the Sayed ul Shuhada school in the capital, adding that most of the victims were students in the age group of 11 to 15 years.
Though an official report is awaited, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and Washington have blamed the Taliban insurgents for the attack. However, the Taliban has denied any responsibility and condemned the attack while blaming the Islamic State (IS) for the heinous crime.
"The Taliban, by escalating their illegitimate war and violence, have once again shown that they are not only reluctant to resolve the current crisis peacefully and fundamentally, but are complicating the situation," Ghani was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Meanwhile, the Afghanistan officials have urged the locals to cooperate and allow ambulances free access to the site while adding that the death toll is expected to rise.
The car bombing in Kabul is expected to increase the tensions in war-wracked Afganistan where the United States (US) and NATO forces are preparing to leave the country and end their 20 years of military engagement.
The US is expected to fully evacuate its troops from Afghanistan by September 11 this year. However, military experts have cautioned the US about the withdrawal of troops, saying the Afghan forces now face an uncertain future and possibly some "bad possible outcomes" against Taliban insurgents.
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Taliban attacks on foreign forces have largely ceased, but they continue to target government forces. A number of journalists, activists and academics have also been killed in attacks blamed on the Taliban, who deny involvement.
Neighbouring Pakistan, which has considerable influence over the Taliban and is pushing them to restart peace talks and agree to a ceasefire, also condemned the attack.
Last month, Washington said it was pushing back the troop withdrawal deadline from May 1 to Sept. 11, which the Taliban warned could have consequences for the agreement.