The Times: Afghan bomb victim Shamsea Alizada is nation’s top pupil

Another article about Shamsea Alizada, which makes her achievement even more inspirational.

A coalminer’s daughter whose tutoring centre was bombed by Isis has come top in an Afghan entrance exam.

Shamsea Alizada says she is haunted by the deadly blast

MOHAMMAD ISMAIL/REUTERS

Shamsea Alizada, 17, lost dozens of classmates when a suicide bomber walked into a university preparation centre in Kabul in 2018. Despite that, she beat almost 200,000 students in the country’s university entrance exam.

Her academic feat, announced by the education ministry on television, has been a welcome piece of news in the country when its government is holding peace talks with the Taliban.

While Afghanistan has suffered decades of conflict, few of Miss Alizada’s fellow students would have endured as many hardships.

The bombing of Mawoud Academy was claimed by an offshoot of Islamic State, which has exploited Afghanistan’s fragile security to attack public spaces. At least 40 people were killed and more than 60 others wounded. The attacker arrived as an algebra class ended and physics was about to begin.

The full article: Afghan bomb victim Shamsea Alizada is nation’s top pupil