Multiple blasts at a school in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday killed at least 40 people and wounded dozens more, mostly female students, officials said.

A senior interior ministry official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that most of the casualties were students coming out of the Sayyed Al-Shuhada school.

Footage on TV channel ToloNews showed chaotic scenes outside the school, with books and school bags strewn across a bloodstained road, and residents rushing to help victims.

A spokesman for the interior ministry, Tariq Arian, put the death toll at least 25 but did not specify the cause or the target.

Ghulam Dastagir Nazari, spokesman for the health ministry, said 46 people had been taken to hospitals so far.

The explosions took place in western Kabul, a heavily Shi’ite Muslim neighborhood that has frequently been attacked by ISIL militants over the years.

The school is a joint high school for girls and boys, who study in three shifts, the second of which is for female students, Najiba Arian, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Education, told Reuters.

The wounded are mostly female students, she said.

Source: Reuters