The blasts on Tuesday targeting educational institutions in western Kabul have sparked widespread reactions from Afghan politicians and foreign diplomatic missions as well as Kabul-based humanitarian watchdogs. 

Jawed Hazhir, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health, said that based on reports from public hospitals, five people were killed and 20 more were wounded in the blasts. 

However, security departments said there were six fatalities and 11 wounded.  

The blast targeted educational institutions and many of the casualties were young students, reports said. 

Former president Hamid Karzai condemned the blast, calling it a crime against humanity and an act by the enemies of peace in Afghanistan and an act against education in the country.  

The former chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah, condemned the attack, calling those responsible the enemies of peace and development in Afghanistan. 

UNAMA and Save the Children also reacted to the blasts.  

“UNAMA unequivocally condemns heinous attack on schools in Kabul today. Those responsible for the crime targeting schools and children must be brought to justice," UNAMA said on Twitter. 

“Save the Children is outraged and strongly condemns the reported attack on a high school today in Kabul,” the head of Save the Children office in Afghanistan, Chris Nayamandi, said in a statement.  

After the three back-to-back blasts, the dead and wounded were evacuated to the nearby hospital of Mohammad Ali Jinnah.  

“I heard the sound of explosions, one of my friends studies in that school. When I called him, his phone was off. So, I went to see what happened and then I was targeted by the second blast,” said Murtaza, a wounded person.  

“I was standing here. I was calling my boys to see if there were ok. And then a second blast occurred and I was hit by shrapnel,” said a wounded person.

Officials of the Mohammad Ali Jinnah hospital said they have received 22 wounded people.  

“We received 14 wounded and five dead,” said Khalilullah Atifi, head of the hospital.  

“It was a mine placed in advance. The students were wounded by the first blast and then the people gathered while the second blast happened,” said the head of the police district.   

US Chargé d’Affaires Ian McCary issued a statement deploring the "horrific" attacks, saying that Afghans should be able to “pursue their studies safely and without fear.” 

Throughout decades of violence, the education institutions in Afghanistan have been targeted many times. However, this is the first attack on a school since the Islamic Emirate came to power.