Afghanistan: Deadly blasts, gunfire hit Kabul military hospital

At least 19 people were killed and 43 others were wounded in an attack on Afghanistan’s biggest military hospital in the capital Kabul, interior ministry sources.

Two explosions hit the entrance of the Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan military hospital on Tuesday (02), followed immediately by heavy gunfire, officials said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the gun and bomb assault in the centre of the capital, but a Taliban spokesman blamed an ISIL affiliate.

A Taliban official later said a suicide bomber and gunmen were behind the attack.

“The attack was initiated by a suicide bomber on a motorcycle who blew himself up at the entrance of the hospital,” said the official on condition on anonymity, adding the assailants had all been killed.

A health worker at the hospital, who managed to escape the site, said he heard a large explosion followed by a couple of minutes of gunfire. About 10 minutes later, there was a second, larger explosion, he said.

Zabihullah Mujahid, Deputy Minister of Information and Culture in the Taliban government, told local media that ISIL affiliate Islamic State in Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K) carried out the attack. He said Taliban special forces killed five of the attackers.

Interior ministry sources told foreign media on the condition of anonymity that at least 19 people were killed and 43 others were wounded, but there was no officially confirmed death toll.

The UN’s mission in Afghanistan condemned the attack and called for those responsible to be held to account.

The blasts added to a growing list of attacks and killings since the Taliban completed its victory over the previous Western-backed government in August, undermining its claim to have restored security to Afghanistan after decades of war.