Big suicide bombing in Kabul kills 18 at education center

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s interior ministry says a suicide attack outside an educational center in the capital, Kabul, has killed at least 18 people and wounded 57 others, including schoolchildren.

The explosion struck outside an education center in a heavily Shiite neighborhood of western Kabul.

The interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian says that the attacker was trying to enter the center when he was stopped by security guards.

No group claimed immediate responsibility for the bombing. The Taliban rejected any connection with the attack.

An Islamic State affiliate claimed responsibility for a similar suicide attack at an education center in August 2018 that killed 34. Within Afghanistan, IS has launched large-scale attacks on minority Shiites, whom it views as apostates.