Afghanistan, Syria-Iraq, Ethiopia.

Today's three stories you should know.

Nov 30, 2022

Afghanistan

Fifteen people, including several children, were killed today when a bomb went off at a religious school in northern Afghanistan. Horrifying images were shared on social media that appeared to show officials picking through body parts strewn across the floor. No group has yet claimed responsibility but Afghanistan’s ISIS affiliate, Islamic State Khorasan or ISIS-K, had launched several attacks since the Taliban took power in August of last year. “It is just so senseless, most of these people, the casualties, are children. This is a religious school. So, it defies logic and it is evil,” Obaidullah Baheer, who teaches at the American University of Afghanistan, told Al Jazeera.

Syria-Iraq

Sticking with ISIS, the group announced today that its leader, Abu Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, has been killed in battle. In an audio message posted on a Telegram channel used by the group, a spokesman said al-Qurashi has died "fighting enemies of God" without elaborating any further on the exact circumstances of his death. Al-Qurashi’s successor was announced as Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi. “He is one of the veteran warriors and one of the loyal sons of the Islamic State [of Iraq and the Levant],” the spokesman said. ISIS has been largely defeated in Iraq and Syria but thousands of fighters still hide out in remote areas and launch occasional attacks.

Ethiopia

It’s the longest uninterrupted internet shutdown in world history. But Ethiopia’s government has no timeline for restoring access in its northern Tigray region, according to a report from the Associated Press news agency. The government recently signed a peace deal with the TPLF group, with which it has been fighting a brutal war for two years. One of the conditions of that deal was that the internet, along with other basic services, be restored to Tigray, which has been almost completely cut off from the outside world for the duration of the conflict. Aid groups say the blackout is hampering the delivery of much-needed aid to the region.