\n Rights groups Thursday condemned a suicide blast inside a school that killed dozens of students in Kabul one day earlier, as outrage over the attack grew while tearful families buried loved ones in the war-weary Afghan capital.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Islamic State-claimed blast hit an education centre in a Shiite area of western Kabul where students were studying for college entrance exams.\n<\/p>\n
\n The attack was just one of the most shocking in a blood-soaked week across Afghanistan that has left security forces and civilians reeling.\n<\/p>\n
\n Two gunmen attacked an intelligence training centre in Kabul Thursday, firing on security forces for several hours before they were killed, police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said.\n<\/p>\n
\n There were no other casualties, he said, and no group has claimed the attack.\n<\/p>\n
\n Taliban militants also delivered high-profile, demoralising blows in the strategic city of Ghazni -- which they attacked last week, forcing security forces backed by US air power to struggle for days to push them out -- and in Faryab, where they captured a northern base, killing at least 17 soldiers.\n<\/p>\n
\n Security forces in Afghanistan, beset by desertions and killings, have taken staggering losses since US-led NATO combat troops pulled out of the country in 2014.\n<\/p>\n
\n The week's violence has raised questions over their ability to hold off the resurgent Taliban.\n<\/p>\n
\n But civilians have long taken the brunt of the violence in Afghanistan -- especially in Kabul, a target of both the Taliban and IS -- and Wednesday's attack on the school was branded a \"war crime\" by Amnesty International.\n<\/p>\n
\n The majority of the victims were children, most aged between 16 and 18, authorities have said, and studying for their university entrance exams.\n<\/p>\n
\n Amnesty warned it proved \"beyond any doubt that Afghanistan and, in particular, its capital Kabul, are not safe\", and said European countries must stop returning Afghan refugees to the war-torn country.\n<\/p>\n
\n UNICEF, meanwhile, branded the attack \"deplorable\" and called for parties on all sides of the conflict to protect children.\n<\/p>\n
\n Outrage was also growing on social media, where Afghans condemned the attack and angrily denounced those behind it -- as well as the government for failing to protect them.\n<\/p>\n
\n Facebook user Ramazan Ali Ramazan described the victims as an \"asset\" to the country.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Death and hatred to this government and filthy terrorist that everyday they are killing innocent Afghans,\" he added.\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'They are killing us' -\n<\/p>\n
\n Families of the dead held a mass funeral Thursday where mourners wept and clutched the wooden coffins.\n<\/p>\n
\n An industrial-sized digger helped soften the arid ground for the fresh graves as men removed rocks from the soil with pickaxes.\n<\/p>\n
\n Mourners decried the unrelenting bloodshed, while others dismissed murmurings of possible ceasefires and peace negotiations between the government and the Taliban, even though the attack was claimed by IS.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Death to your ceasefire and death to your ghost peace talks,\" cried one of the funeral attendees. \"They are killing our educated people and every day they are killing us.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n The surge in violence comes just weeks after Afghans marked an unprecedented country-wide ceasefire between the Taliban and government forces in June, giving some temporary relief to civilians.\n<\/p>\n
\n The brief respite sparked hopes the truce could clear the way for talks to end the nearly 17-year-old conflict.\n<\/p>\n
\n However the devastating attacks across the country in recent days have led many to question how such negotiations could move ahead.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Everyday we are witnessing deadly attacks in Kabul and other major cities. So, I believe the Taliban do not believe in peace talks,\" said shopkeeper Shahenshah Shahin in Kabul.\n<\/p>\n
\n Analysts have suggested the Taliban may be trying to shore up its position before any potential negotiations by proving they can hit government installations at will.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The Taliban will try to have an upper hand during talks, so we can't rule out more attacks until a ceasefire,\" said Taliban expert Rahimullah Yusufzai.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"It's the fighting season and the Taliban will want to rack up victories before winter.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n The group has been conducting blistering attacks on security forces across Afghanistan, including the massive, days-long onslaught on the eastern city of Ghazni during the past week.\n<\/p>\n
\n Small pockets of Ghazni began opening up to humanitarian aid Thursday, while partial mobile service returned after telecommunications infrastructure and government buildings were destroyed during the onslaught.\n<\/p>\n
\n The UN has warned of unconfirmed reports suggesting up to 150 civilians might have been killed in the fighting.\n<\/p>\n
\n Militant attacks and suicide bombings were the leading causes of civilian deaths in the first half of 2018, according to a recent UN report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rights groups Thursday condemned a suicide blast inside a school that killed dozens of students in Kabul one day earlier, as outrage over the attack grew while tearful families buried loved ones in the war-weary Afghan capital. The Islamic State-claimed blast hit an education centre in a Shiite area of western Kabul where students were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-38434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n