Blasts and clashes at military hospital in Kabul kill 20 people

3 yıl önce

KABUL â Two suicide blasts and the sound of gunfire erupted at the main military hospital in the Afghan capital on Tuesday, in an attack that killed at least 20 people and injured dozens more, a doctor and a Taliban official said.

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The doctor at Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan military hospital, Habib Rahman, said at least 20 people had been killed and more than 37 wounded, but added he expected the toll to rise because the first explosion at the entrance also hit many people.

A local Taliban commander said that gunmen moved inside the medical facility where clashes broke out as two blasts struck. Another doctor there also said he heard gunfire. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The Talibanâs deputy spokesman, Bilal Karimi, told The Washington Post that two suicide bombs targeted the hospital in central Kabul, but did not comment on reports of gunmen entering the building.

Ambulance sirens rang out and smoke rose from near the hospital soon after the sound of the first explosion shook downtown Kabul.

A spokesman for the interior ministry, Qari Saeed Khosty, confirmed there were casualties and said the Taliban had dispatched forces to the 400-bed hospital, Afghan news agency Ariana reported. He added that at least 15 people were killed and 34 wounded, Reuters reported.

The large hospital complex near a former diplomatic zone was also the site of a 2017 attack claimed by Islamic State in which gunmen disguised as medics stormed the facility, killing at least 30 people.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesdayâs attack. A series of recent explosions in the country have highlighted the growing challenge an Islamic State affiliate there poses to the Talibanâs authority. Last month, an Islamic State suicide bomber attacked a crowded mosque during Friday prayers in the north, killing nearly 50 Shiite Muslim worshipers and wounding dozens more.

Francis reported from London.