Kabul: At least 19 people were killed and 50 others injured in an attack on a military hospital in Kabul on Tuesday, the latest atrocity since the attack in Afghanistan. Taliban seized power.
The Taliban’s rivals, the Islamic State group, have claimed responsibility for the gun and bomb attack in the center of the capital.
The Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) said in a statement on its Telegram channels that “five Islamic State group fighters carried out coordinated attacks” on the vast site.
“The IS militants wanted to target civilians, doctors and patients in the hospital,” a Taliban spokesman said. zabiullah mujahidi claimed that Taliban forces had foiled the attack within 15 minutes.
As part of the response, he said, Taliban “special forces” were shot down on the roof of the hospital from a helicopter the group had seized from Afghanistan’s former US-backed government.
The attack began when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives near the facility’s entrance. The gunmen then entered the hospital premises, firing with their weapons.
“Nineteen bodies and about 50 injured have been taken to hospitals in Kabul,” a health ministry official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Mujahid put the death toll down, but confirmed that two Taliban fighters, two women and a child, were killed outside the hospital.
A woman trapped in hospital at the time of the attack told AFP how she and her friend felt “we thought we were going to die, our lives were coming to an end”.
“There was a bang at the door,” Rowana Davari, a poet and lecturer, told AFP.
“Daesh came and started firing, we got trapped. We heard firing, glass breaking. We locked ourselves in a bathroom,” he said, referring to the local name of IS.
“Later, the Taliban came and we saw they were with our doctors, so we knew it was okay.”
Amanudhin, 28, a sweeper at the hospital, pushed Maryam, an elderly, frail and partially blind patient, away from the scene in a wheelchair.
“The explosion happened and after a while people started shouting ‘Daesh is here’,” he told AFP. “We heard a lot of firing.
“We were on the seventh floor and locked ourselves in a room. There were injured people everywhere. Broken glasses.”
They hid until Taliban fighters came to rescue them: “They were special forces, they were professionals, they broke the door and came in.”
The Taliban spent 20 years rebelling against the US-backed ousted government.
They now face a struggle to stabilize Afghanistan, which has been hit in recent weeks by a series of bloody attacks claimed by the local chapter of the Islamic State group.
“All the attackers have been killed. The attack was started by a suicide bomber on a motorcycle who blew himself up at the entrance to the hospital,” a Taliban official from a state media group said.
He had earlier said in a statement that the two blasts were targeted at the hospital area.
AFP staff in the city heard a second explosion about 30 minutes after the first one.
“I heard a huge explosion from the first post. We were told to go to the safe rooms. I can also hear gunshots,” said a doctor. Sardar Mohammad Dawood Khan The hospital told AFP it was under attack.
The doctor said, “I can still hear the gunshots inside the hospital building. I feel the attackers going from room to room… like the first attack happened.”
The hospital, which treats wounded soldiers from both the Taliban and former Afghan security forces, was first attacked in 2017, when gunmen posed as medical personnel in an hour-long siege, killing at least 30 people. .
Although both IS and Taliban are staunchly Sunni Islamist militants, they differ on details of religion and strategy.
IS has claimed four mass casualties since the Taliban takeover on August 15, including suicide bombings targeting Shia Muslim mosques. The group considers Shia Muslims to be heretics.
The 2017 attack was also claimed by the Islamic State group, and the Taliban denied responsibility.
Images shared on social media on Tuesday showed black smoke rising in the air after the explosions, the first of which occurred around 1:00 pm (0830 GMT).
Roads close to the heavily fortified “Green Zone” where the buildings of many former Western embassies were located were closed to traffic and Taliban guards intensified search operations.
US State Department condemns attack, spokesman Ned Price said in a tweet on Tuesday evening.
“We mourn those killed and offer our condolences to their loved ones,” he said. “Targeting medical professionals and patients is disgusting and has no justification.”
The Taliban’s rivals, the Islamic State group, have claimed responsibility for the gun and bomb attack in the center of the capital.
The Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) said in a statement on its Telegram channels that “five Islamic State group fighters carried out coordinated attacks” on the vast site.
“The IS militants wanted to target civilians, doctors and patients in the hospital,” a Taliban spokesman said. zabiullah mujahidi claimed that Taliban forces had foiled the attack within 15 minutes.
As part of the response, he said, Taliban “special forces” were shot down on the roof of the hospital from a helicopter the group had seized from Afghanistan’s former US-backed government.
The attack began when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives near the facility’s entrance. The gunmen then entered the hospital premises, firing with their weapons.
“Nineteen bodies and about 50 injured have been taken to hospitals in Kabul,” a health ministry official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Mujahid put the death toll down, but confirmed that two Taliban fighters, two women and a child, were killed outside the hospital.
A woman trapped in hospital at the time of the attack told AFP how she and her friend felt “we thought we were going to die, our lives were coming to an end”.
“There was a bang at the door,” Rowana Davari, a poet and lecturer, told AFP.
“Daesh came and started firing, we got trapped. We heard firing, glass breaking. We locked ourselves in a bathroom,” he said, referring to the local name of IS.
“Later, the Taliban came and we saw they were with our doctors, so we knew it was okay.”
Amanudhin, 28, a sweeper at the hospital, pushed Maryam, an elderly, frail and partially blind patient, away from the scene in a wheelchair.
“The explosion happened and after a while people started shouting ‘Daesh is here’,” he told AFP. “We heard a lot of firing.
“We were on the seventh floor and locked ourselves in a room. There were injured people everywhere. Broken glasses.”
They hid until Taliban fighters came to rescue them: “They were special forces, they were professionals, they broke the door and came in.”
The Taliban spent 20 years rebelling against the US-backed ousted government.
They now face a struggle to stabilize Afghanistan, which has been hit in recent weeks by a series of bloody attacks claimed by the local chapter of the Islamic State group.
“All the attackers have been killed. The attack was started by a suicide bomber on a motorcycle who blew himself up at the entrance to the hospital,” a Taliban official from a state media group said.
He had earlier said in a statement that the two blasts were targeted at the hospital area.
AFP staff in the city heard a second explosion about 30 minutes after the first one.
“I heard a huge explosion from the first post. We were told to go to the safe rooms. I can also hear gunshots,” said a doctor. Sardar Mohammad Dawood Khan The hospital told AFP it was under attack.
The doctor said, “I can still hear the gunshots inside the hospital building. I feel the attackers going from room to room… like the first attack happened.”
The hospital, which treats wounded soldiers from both the Taliban and former Afghan security forces, was first attacked in 2017, when gunmen posed as medical personnel in an hour-long siege, killing at least 30 people. .
Although both IS and Taliban are staunchly Sunni Islamist militants, they differ on details of religion and strategy.
IS has claimed four mass casualties since the Taliban takeover on August 15, including suicide bombings targeting Shia Muslim mosques. The group considers Shia Muslims to be heretics.
The 2017 attack was also claimed by the Islamic State group, and the Taliban denied responsibility.
Images shared on social media on Tuesday showed black smoke rising in the air after the explosions, the first of which occurred around 1:00 pm (0830 GMT).
Roads close to the heavily fortified “Green Zone” where the buildings of many former Western embassies were located were closed to traffic and Taliban guards intensified search operations.
US State Department condemns attack, spokesman Ned Price said in a tweet on Tuesday evening.
“We mourn those killed and offer our condolences to their loved ones,” he said. “Targeting medical professionals and patients is disgusting and has no justification.”
.