By Roy C. Mabasa
The Philippine government yesterday condemned the latest terrorist bomb attack in the Afghanistan capital of Kabul that left at least 41 people killed and more than 80 others wounded.
In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said there were no Filipinos reported among the casualties in a Shi’a cultural center and news agency that are located in the same building in Kabul. No Filipinos were hurt in the incident.
The Philippines conveyed its condolences as it joined the government and the people of Afghanistan in mourning the loss of many lives in the attack.
“We condemn this senseless act of violence that deliberately targeted innocent civilians, many of them young students and even some women and children,” DFA Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano said in the statement.
Charge d’Affaires Anwar Ito of the Philippine Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, which has jurisdiction over Afghanistan, said none of the 1,500 Filipinos estimated to be working in Kabul and other parts of the country were among the casualties in the attack that the United Nations branded as “deliberately targeted children.”
