The top United Nations envoy in Afghanistan condemned the "heinous" attack on a school in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar, which killed six children and wounded 14 other people. He called for the end of such atrocities against the youngsters of the war-torn country. "In all cultures and traditions it is universally accepted that women and children should be outside the arena of conflict and it is most upsetting that this principle is not being respected in Afghanistan," UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative Tom Koenigs said in a statement on the attack."Children have a fundamental human right to education and there can be no justification for such a heinous attack. I want to re-iterate my clear message that the children of Afghanistan should not be targeted by such violence and must be left alone in peace," he added. “We know that all Afghan communities and the entire international community will join us in condemning this atrocity," he said.
The rocket attack on a school building occurred in the capital of the Kunar province, Asadabad. The province lies on the border with Pakistan. The school building lies close to a US-led coalition base and reports say that militants regularly target the military base with rockets but they rarely hit their target. Hundreds of children, aged six to 16, were reportedly in the school at the time of the rocket attack.