Kabul
\nAt least 46 girls and young women were among 53 people killed in a suicide attack on an education centre in the Afghan capital last week, the United Nations said Monday.
\n\u201cFifty-three killed, at least 46 girls and young women,\u201d the United Nations mission in Afghanistan said on Twitter, adding that another 110 people were injured in the bombing on Friday.
\nThe death toll previously stood at 43.
\nA suicide bomber blew himself up next to women at a gender-segregated study hall in a Kabul neighbourhood on Friday.
\nThe bomber detonated as hundreds of students were sitting a practice test ahead of an entrance exam for university admissions.
\nNo group has so far claimed responsibility, but the militant Islamic State group (IS) which considers Shias as heretics has carried out several deadly attacks in the area targeting girls, schools and mosques.
\nThe Taliban authorities have so far said 25 people were killed and 33 others were wounded in the attack.
\nThe Taliban\u2019s return to power in Afghanistan last year brought an end to a two-decade war against the Western-backed government, and led to a significant reduction in violence, but security has begun to deteriorate in recent months.
\nThe hardliners, accused of failing to protect minorities, have often tried to downplay attacks challenging their regime.
\nFriday\u2019s attack triggered sporadic women-led protests in Kabul and some other cities.
\nAround 50 women chanted, \u201cStop Hazara genocide, it\u2019s not a crime to be a Shiite\u201d, as they marched on Saturday in Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood where the attack happened.
\nThe rallies have been dispersed by Taliban forces often firing shots into the air and beating protesters.
\nAfghanistan\u2019s Hazaras have regularly faced attacks in the majority Sunni Muslim country.
\nThey have faced persecution for decades, targeted by the Taliban during their insurgency against the former US-backed government and by IS.
\nIn May last year, before the Taliban\u2019s return to power, at least 85 people \u2014 mainly girls \u2014 were killed and about 300 were wounded when three bombs exploded near their school in Dasht-e-Barchi.
\nAgain, no group claimed responsibility, but a year earlier IS claimed a suicide attack on an educational centre in the same area that killed 24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kabul At least 46 girls and young women were among 53 people killed in a suicide attack on an education centre in the Afghan capital last week, the United Nations said Monday. \u201cFifty-three killed, at least 46 girls and young women,\u201d the United Nations mission in Afghanistan said on Twitter, adding that another 110 people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287234,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-287191","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n