The Vulnerable People Project (VPP), a Catholic charity based in the United States, is helping 20 teenage Afghan girls build a new life after an ISIS terrorist attack, leaving them seriously injured and in dire need of medical treatment.

The 20 girls were taking a practice university entrance exam at Kaaj Hazara Education Center in Kabul when a suicide bomber hit the school. The bombing killed 53 people, including 46 young students, and many more were wounded. 

“These women were targeted for two reasons: Because they are women pursuing an education [and] because they belong to a heavily persecuted ethnic minority group,” Marilis Pineiro, legislative and diplomatic relations liaison for the VPP, said.

“The Hazaras have long been persecuted in Afghanistan,” Pineiro said, “and after the Taliban took back over Afghanistan after the botched withdrawal in August 2021, their persecution has immensely increased.”

Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, many girls and women across the country have had to discontinue their education. According to UNESCO, 80% of school-aged Afghan girls and women — 2.5 million people — are currently out of school.

The Hazaras are Shia Muslims in Sunni-majority Afghanistan, and the very fact that these girls were even pursuing higher education made them targets.

Jason Jones, the founder and president of VPP, told the press Friday, that the rescue of the girls provides a bit of hope where there has been much despair.

“The Hazara are a minority in Afghanistan that are facing genocide at the hands of ISIS,” Jones said. “Being able to get these young women the medical help they need, being able to see that they can further their education … this is an exciting moment, it gives hope.” 

The Vulnerable People Project (VPP) worked in “collaboration with the Jewish Humanitarian Response (JHR) to evacuate 20 Afghan girls to Spain after an ISIS attack,” the organization told reporters. The Spanish government, working with VPP, granted visas to 20 out of a total of 118 girls affected. The remainder will go to Canada.

“We are working with the JHR to help young girls aged 14 – 19 who were victims of an ISIS attack at their school in Kaaj, Afghanistan,” said VPP founder and President Jason Jones:

“It’s a miracle they are alive and we intend to preserve their lives and provide everything they need. Anytime young girls’ lives are threatened, this becomes our highest priority to find safe shelter and to work to get community support for the vulnerable”.

VPP stated that the “urgent mission” of stepping in to help the girls was not only a matter of resettlement, but of providing them “with medical attention, language translation and community support.”

“Our team will be on the ground in Spain along with members of the Jewish Humanitarian Response to greet the first group of displaced girls to assure them of our support,” VPP Legislative and Diplomatic Liaison Marilis Pineiro explained. “Their parents are unable to accompany the girls because they did not have passports, but because of the severity of the injuries they sustained from the ISIS attack, it was determined it is best to move the girls now and get them medical care, then parents will follow soon.”

Pineiro added: “Our team secured pro bono medical care thanks to the cooperation of Dr Pablo Barreiro Garcia, director of the Hospital Ruber Internacional.”

Now safely in Spain, the girls are being treated at Hospital Ruber Internacional.

Though some need serious operations and have a long road to recovery, the Spanish government has offered the girls visas for resettlement and the VPP has plans to help them afford the university program of their choice.

As for the other survivors who were not as seriously injured, VPP is working to help them resettle and build their life in another country.

“They all have very bright futures ahead,” Pineiro said. “We believe that they … [will] contribute greatly back to society in the future.”