Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

AFGHANISTAN

French school hit by suicide attack in Kabul

France was left outraged on Thursday after a suicide bomber targeted a high school attached to the French cultural centre in Kabul on Thursday, saying it had left several people dead.

Published: 11 December 2014 16:46 CET
French school hit by suicide attack in Kabul
A French Lycée was targeted by suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. Photo: Mirwais Afghan/Twitter

France condemned a "barbaric" suicide bomb attack at a high school attached to the Institut Français, cultural centre.

"I firmly condemn this terrorist act which caused the death of several people and left many injured. There were no French victims," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in a statement.

He said crisis units had been set up both in Kabul and France to look into the latest in a string of attacks to hit the Afghan capital in recent weeks.

Fabius called for the perpetrators of the "barbaric act" to be identified and brought to justice.

The suspected bomber, who was around 16-years-old according to Afghanistan's deputy interior minister, detonated his suicide vest inside the Lycée Esteqlal, which is linked to the Institute Français.

The French embassy said that all French citizens were safe.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

AFGHANISTAN

Spain starts evacuating Afghan employees via Pakistan

Spain was on Monday evacuating via Pakistan Afghan helpers left behind when western forces quit Kabul, a government source confirmed on condition of anonymity.

Published: 11 October 2021 15:58 CEST
A group of Afghan nationals stand on the tarmac after disembarking from the last Spanish evacuation flight at the Torrejon de Ardoz air base near Madrid in August. Photo: PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP)
A group of Afghan nationals stand on the tarmac after disembarking from the last Spanish evacuation flight at the Torrejon de Ardoz air base near Madrid in August. Photo: PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP)

The government source declined to give any details of the move, citing security concerns.

But Spanish media, including daily El País and National Radio, reported that Madrid would bring close to 250 Afghan citizens, who had already crossed into Pakistan and would be flown out on military transport planes.

The first flight was expected to arrive on Monday evening.

Spain’s evacuations have been weeks in the making, with Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares visiting Pakistan and Qatar in early September to lay the groundwork.

Madrid evacuated over 2,000 people, most of them Afghans who had worked for Spain and their families, during the western withdrawal as the Taliban seized power in Kabul in August.

But the flights had to stop once the final American troops that had been protecting the Afghan capital’s airport left.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in August that Spain would not “lose interest in the Afghans who had remained” in their country but wanted to leave.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, on Friday urged the bloc’s member states to host a “minimum” of between 10,000 and 20,000 more Afghan refugees.

“To welcome them, we have to evacuate them, and we’re getting down to it, but it’s not easy,” he said in Madrid.

The EU has said a demand by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to take in 42,500 Afghan refugees over five years can be achieved — although any decision lies with member states.

SHOW COMMENTS