Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has declared a one-day national mourning on Tuesday for the victims of the Kabul girls’ school attack which killed at least 68 people, mostly girls aged between 12-15 years. 

The attack on Saturday evening which targeted a girls’ school in an area dominated by Shia Hazaras shook the entire nation. It was one of the most brutal and gruesome attacks in recent months, which killed children in such a large number. 

Calling the incident a “crime against humanity”, Ghani, in a video message released on Monday, said as the father of two children he shared the pain of every family affected by this attack. 

For Afghanistan’s Shia Hazara community, a long-persecuted community in the country, the attack is being seen as a chilling reminder of a bumpy road ahead, especially when the Taliban is hoping for a return in Kabul. 

West Kabul, the area where most Hazaras - a Persian-speaking ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Hazarat - live, often comes under attack by terrorist groups. Ghani said he had directed his vice-president, Amrullah Saleh, to work out a detailed security plan for the area. 

Ghani also announced the government would provide compensation to every affected family. 

No group took responsibility for the attack. Ghani, however, blamed the Taliban for the attack,  a claim denied by the insurgent group. Soon after the attack, the Taliban, in a statement, called for a fair international probe into the incident. The group, too, condemned the attack. 

A day after the attack, many nations, including India, Pakistan, Iran, and the US, issued statements, strongly condemning the attack.