25 Killed In Blast, Gunfire At Kabul Hospital

KABUL: The troubled state’s capital reported 25 casualties and more than 50 wounded after an attack at Afghanistan’s biggest military hospital, where armed men raged in after two detonations on-site in central Kabul.

The blasts occurred at the Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital, which houses 400 beds, followed by Islamic State (IS) group gunmen storming in, who were all killed within the first 15 minutes, said Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Taliban.

He further informed that the Taliban Special Forces had stopped the assailants from entering the hospital building itself. One of the attackers was even taken into custody, another spokesman added. A Taliban security official anonymously tipped that at least 25 people had been killed, but the official casualty toll could not be confirmed.

Mawlawi Mukhlis, Kabul military corps in charge and one of the first senior Taliban commanders to walk into the abandoned presidential office during the siege was among the dead reported, said Taliban officials.

A healthcare professional at the targeted facility managed to escape the attack and later reported that he had heard a large bang with gunfire and a second, greater blast about 10 minutes after the first.

IS have led several attacks since the Taliban took control of Kabul in August, but they’ve always been a presence in the Afghan political sphere. They had orchestrated an intricate attack on the hospital in 2017, causing more than 30 casualties.

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemned the attack, followed by Pakistan and other countries.

“Attacks directed at medical personnel and civilians are violations of international humanitarian law. Those responsible for this gross attack on human rights need to be held to account,” UNAMA tweeted.