'Entire Country' Believes Taliban is Behind Girls' School Bombing in Afghanistan, Expert Says
On 5/10/21 at 5:01 PM EDT
Newsweek their denials don't really matter.
"They can deny it as much as they want, but the reality is that the entire country believes that it's the Taliban who are behind these attacks," said Belquis Ahmadi, a senior program officer at the United States Institute of Peace.
"These are just empty words—just useless, baseless denials. The truth is that they have hands in all of these attacks one way or another," Ahmadi said.
The May 8 bombing is one of several attacks reported in recent days as U.S. troops began withdrawing from Afghanistan. Three blasts went off during the attack near the entrance to the school, which is located in a largely Shiite Muslim area, as students were leaving for the day, according to the Associated Press. While male students occupy the campus during the morning hours, female students take classes in the afternoons, the AP reported. The female students were the ones who were present at the time of the bombing.