Terrorists Attack American University In Kabul, Afghanistan; 13 Dead

Just before 7pm on Wednesday evening, a suicide car bomb went off at American University’s entrance in Kabul, Afghanistan. That blast destroyed part of the campus’ security wall and two terrorists, armed with automatic rifles and grenades, stormed in.

The terrorists were not killed until around 3:30am, roughly 9 hours later. In the aftermath, 13 were dead — 7 students, 1 teacher, 3 police officers and 2 security guards (and of course some terrorists, but we don’t count them). 36 were wounded.

American University was setup and influenced largely by us in 2006. It’s a liberal arts school modeled after U.S. universities and teaches over 1,000 students. Education is scarce in Afghanistan, and part of our mission when we went there was not just to eradicate as much terror as possible, but also to put into place systems through which the Afghan communities can grow, flourish, and become both self-sustainable and self-protected. American University is a large part of that effort (ie: nation building).

Most of those killed or wounded were hurt near the windows from classrooms, as the terrorists shot from outside in (via ABC News):

“I went to the window to see what was going on, and I saw a person in normal clothes outside. He shot at me and shattered the glass,” [Massoud Hossaini, a photographer] said, adding that he fell on the glass and cut his hands.Terrorists frequently attack schools and students, for education is one of their biggest threats. The more informed and educated people are, the more difficult it becomes for the terrorists to recruit, grow, and succeed. While they attempt to use these attacks as a sign of strength, they’re truly and quite obviously a sign of weakness, cowardice, and desperation. They desperately seek to stop what will crush them — flourishing, educated, civilized communities.

Attacking students is as cowardice and senseless as it gets. Another reminder that terrorists have never been right about anything ever.

Follow @RiggsBarstool