Afghanistan:
Massacre of Schoolgirls

May 24, 2021

Translated from Lutte Ouvrière, the newspaper of the revolutionary workers’ group active in France.

The attack on May 8 outside a girls’ school in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, left at least 50 dead and 100 injured. Most were teenage girls trying to flee the school after a car bomb and then two other bombs exploded.

Which terrorist faction is behind this attack? None has claimed it yet. The Taliban denies any involvement. This attack could have been the work of any of the groups clawing for power: the Taliban, ISIS, warlords, or even what remains of the nation’s army. All have similar methods, terrorizing the population with attacks that become massacres. And the choice of target, the girls’ school, is not an accident. All these groups—each more violent and reactionary than the others—agree on maintaining women in a state of ignorance, absolutely dependent on men. It is intolerable to all of them that young women could emancipate themselves by getting an education.

The U.S. had decided to withdraw its troops on the symbolic date of September 11, after 20 long years of war waged in the name of fighting terrorism, and claiming to want to establish democracy. Then the U.S. announced the withdrawal would be advanced to July. But nothing is settled. The government in place is corrupt and holds no authority outside the capital. The Taliban, while driven out of the government in 2001, are still the dominant political faction. Meanwhile ISIS is gaining ground and al Qaeda is re-establishing itself.

The Afghan population pays a heavy price for the chaos that U.S. imperialism leaves behind. The war destruction further impoverishes a country, over which fight vultures from enemy clans. Their battles turn into massacres of the population, and these massacres continue—attacks have become daily occurrences. The attack on May 8 confirms that women might be among the main targets of any future government.