Female graphic artist Khadija Panahi is among the victims of the bomb blast that targeted a civilian minibus in Qalay-e-Nazer, a Shia-Hazara neighborhood of west Kabul on Saturday evening, a local source told Rukhshana Media.
The incident left at least five killed and 15 others wounded, according to Khalid Zadran, the Taliban’s police spokesperson in Kabul.
“Khadija Panahi, 31 was a graphic designer and animator. She was an Arts graduate, and for about ten years,” a close source to Mrs Panahi told Rukhshana Media. “She had been working with various governmental and non-governmental organizations.”
“She had recently enrolled in an English language center to prepare for TOEFL,” the source said. “She died in the explosion while returning home from the course.”
She was supposed to take the TOEFL test today Monday, January 8, the source said.
According to the source, due to the severity of the explosion, Khadija’s body could not be identified, until forensic medicine identified her one day after the incident.
UNAMA said that at least 25 members of the Hazara community were killed and injured in the explosion.
“UNAMA calls for an end to targeted attacks on civilians, greater protection for Afghanistan‘s Hazara community and accountability for perpetrators,” it posted on X.
The Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) has claimed the Saturday blast.
The group claimed the incident has left at least 16 killed and more than 20 people wounded.
In November last year, a bomb explosion [claimed by IS-KP] on a minibus in west Kabul left at least seven killed and 20 others wounded.
The Shia-Hazara community in Afghanistan has been repeatedly targeted by ISIS-K and other extremist groups, which view the Shia practice of Islam as heretical.
