"Initial reports show that more than 50 children were injured when their school was damaged in the attack. This is horrific", Fore said in the release. Fore also said that schools should be havens of peace, and that violence in or around schools is never acceptable.
Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi said two attackers targeted defence ministry facilities with an explosive device. According to eyewitnesses, the blast was followed by sporadic gunfire and other explosions.
Earlier in the day, a car bomb targeted Kabul's Puli Mahmood Khan Area close to an Afghan Defence Ministry supply compound and several diplomatic facilities and schools.
UNICEF renewed its call to all parties to end the violence and protect children at all times.
Afghan Health Ministry spokesman Wahidullah Mayar said that the number of people injured in the attack on Monday morning reached 68.
At least three journalists from Shamshad TV were reportedly injured in the blast. Also, officials from the Afghanistan Football Federation said that a number of their staff members and players received injuries, adding that their compound was damaged.
The Taliban reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack. The Taliban has reportedly launched a series of attacks across Afghanistan in recent weeks even as their leaders in Qatar negotiate a peace deal with the US.
Afghanistan has long suffered from unstable security. The government has been fighting the Taliban movement, which has been waging a war against Kabul for almost two decades, as well as the Daesh terrorist group, which has been reportedly operating in Afghanistan since 2015.
*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) , the Taliban are terrorist groups banned in Russia and many other countries.
