Afghan girls read the holy Quran inside a traditional classroom at the Al Subhan madrassa or Islamic school in Salihan village of Kandahar's Panjwai district on July 8, 2026. (Credit: Sanaullah Seiam / AFP)
A blast at an education centre in Kabul has injured at least 42 children, the U.N. mission in Afghanistan said Tuesday, without elaborating on the cause of the explosion.
Richard Bennett, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, earlier condemned a "heinous attack" near a school in Kabul's western Dasht-e-Barchi area, which is home to the historically persecuted Shiite Hazara community.
The victims of Monday's blast are aged nine to 14, according to the U.N. mission, UNAMA.
"UNAMA have not yet confirmed the circumstances of the explosion," a spokesman told AFP, citing "conflicting reports of either an attack or unexploded ordnance."
Decades of conflict have left Afghanistan littered with the explosive remnants of war, with the country registering the third-highest casualty rate globally according to the United Nations.
Afghanistan's Directorate of Mine Action Coordination, which has investigated the scene, said a grenade had exploded at the school on Monday afternoon, matching details earlier provided by the Kabul police.
"Our thoughts are with the children injured and their families," UNAMA said.
"We call for an investigation to establish the circumstances of this incident. Schools and education centers must be kept safe."
The private primary school posted a message on its Facebook page asking people to "pray for the injured," without providing further details.
The blast happened just as the children were being dismissed, a 38-year-old resident who lives nearby told AFP.
"There were so many wounded people that I couldn't count them," she told AFP on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
There have been sporadic attacks in Kabul over the past five years of Taliban government rule, including an explosion at a central Chinese restaurant in January which killed at least seven people.
There have been multiple deadly blasts in the Dasht-e-Barchi area, including a car bomb outside a girls' school in 2021 that killed at least 90 people and wounded hundreds more.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for attacks in Dasht-e-Barchi, targeting Shiites who they consider heretics.
