Suicide bomber attacks Afghanistan’s Polytechnic University of Kabul

On June 4, 2018, a suicide attacker detonated a bomb at the Polytechnic University of Kabul, targeting a meeting of religious scholars, killing at least seven people, and injuring several more.

More than 2,000 Islamic scholars, members of a group known as the Ulema Council, had convened a meeting on the Polytechnic University campus during Ramadan to discuss the Afghan war and attacks by the Taliban and the Islamic State. On the morning of June 4, the group had issued a fatwa, or religious edict, stating that the insurgency by those extremists groups had no religious basis. In addition, the group declared that suicide bombings were forbidden by Islam. Around 11:30 a.m., the bomber detonated an explosive device outside the tent where the Ulema Council had met. Current reports of the number of casualties vary between seven and fourteen dead, and between nine and seventeen injured.

Scholars at Risk is gravely concerned about targeted, violent, extremist attacks on campus, and sends condolences to the victims’ families and to the Polytechnic University community. In addition to the harm to the immediate victims, such incidents have a chilling effect on academic freedom and institutional autonomy. State officials have a responsibility to ensure the security of higher education communities, to prevent future attacks, and to hold perpetrators accountable.

Sources:

• https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/04/asia/afghan-bomb-blast-intl/index.html
• http://ddnews.gov.in/international/14-killed-blast-near-kabul-university
• https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/06/kabul-12-dead-suicide-blast-cleric-gathering-180604080442555.html
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/suicide-bomber-hits-meeting-of-afghan-religious-figures-condemning-terrorism-killing-14/2018/06/04/00c2b53e-67d9-11e8-bea7-c8eb28bc52b1_story.html?utm_term=.c29537701a72