Afghanistan Classroom Attack: Women students in Herat rally

On Sunday, more than 100 Afghan female students demonstrated in Herat, in the country's west, in opposition to the suicide bombing that took place in a Kabul classroom while they were studying for exams, killing dozens of people.

In the historically marginalised Shiite Muslim Hazara community's enclave of Kabul's Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood, a bomber detonated himself on Friday in the women's part of a gender-segregated study hall.

The United Nations said that at least 35 people were killed and another 82 were injured when hundreds of students were completing tests in preparation for entrance to universities, with girls and young women making up the majority of the victims.

More than 100 women, predominantly Hazara, demonstrated against the attack on Sunday in Herat; it was one of the bloodiest to affect the minority in recent years.

“Education is our right, genocide is a crime,” the protesters chanted, marching from the University of Herat to the provincial governorate.

The well-armed Taliban militants prevented them from entering the governorate.

Since the Taliban retook control, marches for women's rights have been marked by tense standoffs with the police, with demonstrators being jailed and rallies being dispersed by overhead fire.

The majority of these infrequent rallies by female activists against the Taliban's numerous limitations have taken place in Kabul.

The attack on Kabul's Kaaj Higher Educational Center on Friday has not yet been assigned a perpetrator by any party.

Shiites are considered heretics by the jihadist Islamic State (IS) organisation, which has previously carried out attacks in the region that targeted mosques, schools, and girls. In recent years, Herat has seen an increase in attacks on Hazaras.

The Taliban now face a significant security threat from IS, although Taliban officials claim their soldiers have already routed the extremists.

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