Dozens of young girls were buried Sunday at a desolate hilltop cemetery in Kabul, a day after a secondary school was targeted in the bloodiest attack in Afghanistan in over a year.
A series of blasts outside the school during a peak holiday shopping period killed more than 50 people, mostly female students, and wounded more than 100 in Dasht-e-Barchi, a west Kabul suburb populated mostly by Hazara Shiites.
The government blamed the Taliban for the carnage, but the insurgents denied responsibility and issued a statement saying the nation needed to "safeguard and look after educational centres and institutions".
Saturday's blasts came as the United States military continues to withdraw its last 2,500 troops from the violence-wracked country despite faltering peace efforts between the Taliban and Afghan government to end a decades-long war.
During a confidential visit to Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Marise Payne expressed her condolences for the "cowardly terrorist attack" on the female students.
Senator Payne also discussed the handling of alleged war crimes committed by Australian troops during her meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
She described the planned departure of Australian troops later this year as "beginning a new chapter" in the relationship.
"We will continue our close friendship, and support our shared aspiration of peace, stability and prosperity," Senator Payne said in a statement on Monday.
"We will continue our development assistance program to work to preserve the significant gains made by the Afghan people, in particular advancing the rights of women and girls."
Interior Ministry spokesman Tareq Arian told reporters that a car bomb detonated in front of the Sayed Al-Shuhada girls school on Saturday, and when the students rushed out in panic, two more devices exploded.
An man crying over the victim of deadly bombings on Saturday near a school west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, 9 May, 2021. Source: AAP
Residents were shopping ahead of this week's Eid al-Fitr holiday - which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan - when the blasts occurred.
On Sunday, relatives buried the dead at a hilltop site known as "Martyrs Cemetery", where victims of attacks against the Hazara community are laid to rest.
Hazaras are Shiite Muslims and considered heretics by extremist Sunnis. Sunni Muslims make up the majority of the Afghan population.
'Bodies on top of each other'
Bodies in wooden coffins were lowered into graves one by one by mourners still in a state of shock and fear, an AFP photographer said.
"I rushed to the scene (after the blasts) and found myself in the middle of bodies, their hands and heads cut off and bones smashed," said Mohammad Taqi, a resident of Dasht-e-Barchi, whose two daughters were students at the school but had escaped the attack.
"All of them were girls. Their bodies piled on top of each other."
Last week the school's students had protested about a lack of teachers and study materials, said Mirza Hussain, a local resident.
"But what they got (in return) was a massacre."
Books and school bags belonging to the victims still lay scattered at the site of the attack.
Afghan officials including President Ashraf Ghani blamed the Taliban.
A view from the site where dozens of schoolgirls were killed in three back-to-back blasts targeting a school in Afghanistan's capital Kabul, 8 May, 2021. Source: AAP
"This savage group does not have the power to confront security forces on the battlefield, and instead targets with brutality and barbarism public facilities and the girls' school," Ghani said in a statement after the blasts.
The Taliban denied involvement, and insist they have not carried out attacks in Kabul since February last year, when they signed a deal with Washington that paved the way for peace talks and withdrawal of the remaining US troops.
But the group has clashed daily with Afghan forces in the rugged countryside even as the US military reduces its presence.
Pope Francis said Saturday's attack was "an inhumane action", while Iran blamed the jihadist Islamic State.
"By targeting children amid Ramadan, Daesh again exhibited its inhumanity and abject contempt for Islam and Muslims," Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said, calling IS by its Arabic acronym.
India called for "dismantling terrorist sanctuaries" and for a ceasefire to boost peace efforts.
On Sunday evening, Ghani declared a day of national mourning for Tuesday.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the attack and expressed his deepest sympathies to the victims' families and to the Afghan government and people.
Families of the victims blamed the government and Western powers for failing to put an end to violence and the ongoing war.
Taliban chief warns US
The United States was supposed to have pulled all forces out by 1 May as agreed with the Taliban last year, but Washington pushed back the date to 11 September - a move that angered the insurgents.
The leader of the Taliban, Hibatullah Akhundzada, reiterated in a message released ahead of Eid that any delay in withdrawing the troops was a "violation" of that deal.
"If America again fails to live up to its commitments then the world must bear witness and hold America accountable for all the consequences," Mr Akhundzada warned in Sunday's message.
He also said that the country should "safeguard and look after educational centres and institutions".
The Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood has been a regular target of attacks from Sunni Islamist militants.
Two brutal attacks last year on a hospital and a tuition centre in the same neighbourhood left about 50 people dead and scores wounded.
Foreign troop withdrawal has led to a surge in fighting between Afghan security forces and Taliban insurgents.
Critics of the decision say the Islamist militants will make a grab for power and civilians live in fear of being subjected once more to brutal and oppressive Taliban rule.
On Twitter, China's ambassador to Afghanistan, Wang Yu, said the abrupt US announcement of a complete withdrawal of forces had led to a succession of attacks throughout the country.
Afghan girls attend a school in Herat, Afghanistan. Source: EPA
"China calls on foreign troops in Afghanistan to take into full account the security of people in the country and the region, pull out in a responsible manner and avoid inflicting more turmoil and suffering on the Afghan people," he said.
