On Friday, September 30, 2022, a suicide bomb attack on a school hall killed at least 20 people, most believed to be young women, in Kabul, Afghanistan at 7:30 a.m. 

The bomb detonated as students were taking a practice university exam at Kaaj Higher Educational Center. Twenty-three people were killed with at least 36 more injured, said a doctor from a nearby hospital where most of the victims had been taken.

Over 500 students were in the building at the time of the attack, mainly populated by ethnic Hazaras, a part of Afghanistan’s minority Shiite community. 

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Police have arrested a possible suspect.

 Photographs and videos were published online of the scene, showing the victims being taken away to receive medical attention. 

“When I got inside, I saw many of my classmates in blood. I found out that the explosion had happened inside my classroom,” said a 20-year-old witness to a CNN reporter. 

“I was in a state of shock. I was just screaming my friends’ names and searching for them. I found some of them alive, but not my closest friend who was 19, and the most intelligent girl in our class,” 

Afghanistan is under the rule of the Taliban, which discourages girls from education past the age of 11. After the American withdrawal of troops, the Taliban resumed power in the country and created a refugee crisis. 

The majority of people are blaming Joe Biden for the withdrawal of American troops causing this tragedy.