KUNDUZ: A mortar bomb blast inside a religious school in northern Afghanistan killed at least nine students on Thursday, police said.

“As per the initial investigation, the explosion was caused by a mortar that had somehow been carried inside the madrassa,” said police spokesman Khalil Asir, adding many of the dead were aged under 18.

Six students were also wounded in the explosion in the Ishkamish district of Takhar province. Provincial governor spokesman Jawad Hejri confirmed the incident and the toll.

No group claimed responsibility for the blast, and attempts to reach the Taliban for comment were not immediately successful. The Taliban control or influence several villages in Ishkamish district.

The madrassah was located in a government-controlled area.

Thursday’s explosion comes after two deadly blasts this month targeted separate mosques in Kabul.

On Friday, four people were killed when explosives detonated at a mosque in the capital during weekly prayers.

A week earlier a blast at a mosque in the heavily fortified Green Zone killed two people, including a prominent imam.

The latest bloodshed comes as the Taliban and government are preparing to launch much-delayed peace talks aimed at ending the nearly two-decade old conflict in the impoverished country. The talks are expected to begin once the two sides complete an ongoing prisoner swap that was accelerated after a brief ceasefire last month.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2020