According to a government official, a bomb explosion near a girls' school in the Afghan capital of Kabul reportedly killed 40 people, who were mostly women. The blast occurred in a Shiite-majority neighborhood in the city's west.

The blast occurred on Saturday afternoon near the Syed Al-Shahda School in the Dasht-e-Barchi district, as per the Ministry of Interior (MOI). According to Tariq Arian, a representative for the Ministry of Interior, the number of fatalities could rise.

Officials have not said what caused the blast or whether there was a target. There is yet to be an assertion of liability. In a statement to the public, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mojahid denied involvement in the blast.

The Taliban, which denied any responsibility, denounced it. No other party has assumed actual accountability, though previous attacks were being traced to the Afghan branch of the Daesh (so-called IS) group.

The Daesh party, a militant Sunni group, has a history of violent attacks on Afghanistan's minority Shiite community. Ambulances rushed to the site of the explosion near Syed Al-Shahda school in Dasht-e-Barchi, a Shiite majority neighborhood.

The incident occurred as students were leaving the campus, according to Afghanistan's Tolo News. According to Tolo, "a car bomb blast occurred first, and afterward, two more blasts happened outside the girls school in Kabul," said Ibrahim, a schoolteacher. According to Tolo, he also mentioned that most of the victims are females.

As per government officials, at least 50 people were injured in the attack. It occurred just days after President Joe Biden declared that the existing 2,500 to 3,500 American troops would leave the country.

Despite peace negotiations between rebel Taliban and government negotiators in the Qatari capital of Doha, Afghanistan has witnessed a spike in car bombings in recent months.

Global governments and organizations have called for an urgent truce between the Afghan government and the Taliban after the country has been at war for two decades.

On May 1, the US started handing over a base in Helmand province to the Afghan military, that had previously witnessed some of the deadliest combat against Taliban forces. It was one of a series of military bases that will be turned over to Afghan security forces as a result of the removal declared by President Joe Biden last month.

According to a recently declassified US intelligence paper, the removal of the US and foreign forces could jeopardize progress on women's rights in Afghanistan, even if the Taliban may not completely take control.

The National Intelligence Council concluded that the progress made over the past two decades "probably owes more to foreign pressure than domestic assistance," implying that it would be jeopardized if the alliance withdrew, even if Taliban attempts to undo it was unsuccessful.

The two-page article, which was declassified at the behest of Senator Jeanne Shaheen, paints a bleak picture of the possible erosion of hard-won women's rights in Afghanistan as US and NATO forces start their retreat after almost two decades on the land.

In a CNN opinion column published after Biden's withdrawal declaration, three women officials of the Afghan government negotiation team cautioned that "if the Taliban does not think the United States is fully committed to a prosperous and inclusive Afghanistan that might mean trouble for the future negotiations."