Recent Waves of Terrorism in Europe and Afghanistan

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By Sam Baghal, International News Editor

At Least 22 were killed and another 22 were injured in a terror attack on Kabul University last week marking the second school shooting in the capital of Afghanistan this month.

The shooting lasted six-hours, beginning in the late morning and ending only when Afghan forces and U.S. commandos managed to kill three of the attackers. Explosions and persistent gunfire were heard all around the university campus where many students took shelter; the majority of the others managed to flee the scene.

“They were shooting at every student they saw… they even shot at the students who were running away,” said witness Fathullah Moradi.

As peace negotiations with the Taliban persist in an attempt to end 40 long years of war, violence in Afghanistan has seemingly only worsened in recent months.

The tragedy that occurred at Kabul University was the second deadly assault on education facilities in the area within a short matter of time.  Just one week earlier, 40 were killed in a suicide bombing just outside the country’s oldest and largest education center.

Afghanistan is not alone, however, in facing a devastating uprising of terrorism. Europe has also been suffering from a series of deadly attacks.

Three people were killed in a knife assault on October 29 at the Notre Dame Basilica church in Nice, a city located on France’s Mediterranean coast.

The attacker slit the throat of a church sacristan and then went after two others in the stands. A woman was killed, and police say that the cut on her throat ran so deep that it was most likely an attempted decapitation. Another victim was struck several times while trying to escape and call for help, dying only minutes later.

The alleged attacker’s name has not yet been released to the public, however, he has been identified as a Tunisian man who illegally entered the European Union only a month prior. While he was being shot at and detained, Police officials reported that he shouted out “Allahu akbar”.

After French government officials gathered in Paris for an emergency meeting, they have labeled the tragic incident as an act of terrorism, but further details are still being investigated. They are making sure to take the event even more seriously considering it is the second sign of terrorism in a mere matter of weeks.

The entirety of Europe was still mourning the killing and beheading of Samuel Patty in a terrorist attack that took place in northern Paris. The assault was motivated by one of Patty’s history classes in which he showed students some controversial political cartoons.

France isn’t the only European nation to be impacted, however, as a gunman opened fire in Austria’s capital of Vienna, killing four and injuring 22 people on November 2.

“It was clearly an attack driven by hatred of our way of life, our democracy,” said Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

Since one police officer was shot and injured before the perpetrator was taken down, members of the special forces quickly arrived at the scene. The attacker has since been identified as a 20-year-old “Islamist terrorist” and was armed with an automatic rifle, pistol, machete, and fake bomb vest.

“It’s really scary to think that all of these attacks occurred within such a short period of time,” said Senior Jamie Hamalainen. “The Afghan, French, and Austrian governments seem to be taking this recent spur of terrorism in all three nations very seriously, so I hope they can put precautions in place to prevent any further devastation.”