An attacker has set off a grenade among a group of university students in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, killing himself and wounding five students.

On Sunday, the assailant, dressed in a school uniform, struck a neighborhood dominated by ethnic Hazaras, a Shia Muslim minority frequently targeted by extremist groups.

Nasir Nadery, the district police chief, said the attacker, who slipped past two guards, was wearing an explosives vest that failed to explode.

The attack was carried out as students were inside a private compound where they were taking classes to prepare for university exams.

No individual or group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which resembled previous assaults carried out by the Daesh Takfiri terrorists.

The Hazara community, the poorest of the country’s ethnic groups, accounts for about 22 percent of Afghanistan’s population.

Its members have been targeted in several large-scale kidnappings and killings across Afghanistan in the past, prompting demonstrations and sit-ins in Kabul and elsewhere.

Last December, dozens of people were killed in an attack on a Shia cultural center claimed by Daesh, which has been growing in size and expanding its operations in the country over the past two years.

Daesh terrorists and Taliban militants also massacred dozens of civilians, mostly Hazaras, in an attack on a village in the northern province of Sar-e Pul last August.

Taliban, Daesh massacred people in Afghanistanian village’

Investigators said they had “verified allegations” of at least 36 deaths in a Shia-majority village.

Taliban kill five policemen northwest of Kabul

Separately, at least five policemen were killed on Sunday after Taliban militants attacked security positions northwest of Kabul. According to Mohammed Zaman, the police chief for Ghazni province, the deadly assault also set off a two-hour gun battle.

In the western province of Ghor, a roadside bomb killed a young shepherd and wounded five other people. Police spokesman Iqbal Nizami said Taliban had planted the bomb in order to target security forces.

Also in the eastern province of Khost, police spokesman Basir Bina said a roadside bomb killed two children and wounded another nine. Both bombs went off on Saturday.

Taliban militants were removed from power following the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan, but they have stepped up activities in recent months, attempting to overrun several regions. During the past 16 years, the militants have been conducting terrorist attacks across the country, killing and displacing civilians.

Many parts of Afghanistan remain plagued by militancy despite the presence of foreign troops.