Afghanistan says 59 children killed in attack

A suicide attack in Afghanistan this week killed 59 children and five teachers, the education ministry said Friday, taking the death toll to 75 in the deadliest attack in the insurgency-hit country.

Six lawmakers and five bodyguards were also killed in the blast on Tuesday in the northern province of Baghlan.

“We have got 59 school children, aged from eight to 18, and five teachers killed in that blast,” said Education Ministry spokesperson Zuhor Afghan.

The children were among a crowd of people who had gathered to welcome a visiting delegation of parliamentarians to a sugar factory outside the town of Pul-i-Khumri, about 150km north of Kabul.

Officials said earlier Friday that 64 people had been killed in the attack.

Afghan said that after the blast Education Minister Hanif Atmar had reissued a ban on children being assembled to welcome visitors to such functions.

“The students were already banned from attending those kind of ceremonies,” Afghan said.

“But after this attack, the minister has ordered again that no-one can force any student to participate in those kind of ceremonies any more,” he said. - AFP