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Newborn babies among dead in attack on Kabul maternity hospital Newborn babies among dead in attack on Kabul maternity hospital
(about 1 hour later)
At least 13 killed and dozens evacuated during attack by people wearing police uniforms At least 16 killed by assailants wearing police uniforms, while dozens die in funeral blast
Gunmen have attacked a hospital in Kabul where the international humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) runs a maternity clinic, killing at least 13 people including two newborn babies. Gunmen attacked a hospital that houses a maternity clinic in Kabul, killing at least 16 people including two newborn babies, and a suicide bomber killed at least 24 others at a funeral, on a morning of double tragedy for Afghanistan.
The attack began in the morning when at least three gunmen wearing police uniforms entered the Dasht-e-Barchi hospital, throwing grenades and shooting, government officials said. Fifteen people were wounded, according to the ministry of interior. Security forces had killed the attackers by the afternoon. In the Afghan capital on Tuesday, soldiers raced out of the hospital carrying tiny infants wrapped in bloodstained blankets to waiting ambulances, after the attackers rampaged their way through the wards.
The 100-bed government-run facility is supported by MSF, which confirmed the attack in a tweet and said staff and patients were being evacuated. Just hours before it had tweeted a photo of a newborn infant at the clinic in his mother’s arms after being delivered safely by emergency caesarean section. The attack targeting the most vulnerable of civilians, including children just hours old and exhausted new mothers, caused a wave of horror and revulsion.
Interior and health ministry officials said that mothers, nurses and children were among the dead and wounded. “These newborns, among the first voices they heard, on the first day of their lives, was the sound of gunfire…and among their first experiences, being targeted in a war they and their mothers had no part in,” Shaharzad Akbar, the chair of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights commission tweeted. “Will their lives, like ours, continue to be shaped by war?”
Photos from the ministry of interior showed two young children lying dead inside the hospital. Soldiers ferried children out of the compound, some wrapped in blood-stained blankets. Officials said 100 people in total were rescued, including three foreign nationals. It began with a bomb blast at the entrance to the Dasht-e-Barchi hospital, one of the busiest in the capital, around 10am local time. The gunmen then burst inside and began shooting.
The neighbourhood is home to many members of Afghanistan’s Hazara community, a mostly Shia Muslim minority that has been attacked by Sunni militants from Islamic State in the past, including at a Kabul ceremony commemorating the death of one of its leaders in March. “They started firing as soon as they reached the doorstep,” one weeping doctor told Afganistan’s Tolo television, soon after escaping. “Four mothers were killed in the room, two were in a safe room and survived. It was a devastating scene.”
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Taliban said they were not involved. A reporter who was able to access the hospital soon after the attack said gunmen appeared to have opened fire in every room, and on everyone inside, with some bodies still lying in the recovery room where women are taken after giving birth.
Several bloody attacks in the capital in recent months have been claimed by Isis. Husbands, brothers and fathers, who are not normally allowed on maternity wards in Afghanistan, thronged nearby streets in desperation, begging for news about whether their relatives had survived.
In a separate attack the same day, a suicide bomber struck the funeral of a police commander, attended by government officials and a member of parliament, in the eastern province of Nangahar, killing at least 24 people and injuring 68. “Sixteen women and children were martyred and sixteen other civilians were wounded in today’s barbaric terrorist attack,” said Feroz Bashiri, the director of government media and information centre.
A spokesman for the Nangahar provincial government said the casualty toll could rise in the attack on the funeral. Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF) confirmed it runs the maternity section of the hospital. “Explosions and gunfire were reported. Efforts are still ongoing to evacuate patients and staff,” the international charity tweeted.
Rights group Amnesty International condemned both attacks. Hours earlier it shared a picture of a baby, safely delivered by emergency caesarean section at the clinic.
“The unconscionable war crimes in Afghanistan today, targeting a maternity hospital and a funeral, must awaken the world to the horrors civilians continue to face,” the group said on Twitter. “There must be accountability for these grave crimes.” The dead included mothers, nurses and infants, the interior ministry said, and officials shared a photo of two young children lying dead inside the hospital. About 100 people were rescued from the building, including three foreigners.
On Monday, security forces said they had arrested three senior Isis members including a regional leader. The attack in Nangahar province, eastern Afghanistan, targeted the funeral of a police commander who had died in the night of a heart attack, said Niloofar Aziz, member of the provincial council.
Last week, security forces killed and arrested several members of an Isis cell that authorities said was responsible for several attacks in Kabul including one on a Sikh temple in March. The explosion at about 11am killed one member of the council, Lala Khan. His father and brothers were among at least 68 injured. The scale of the casualties meant the death toll could rise, officials have warned.
Roadside blasts in the capital on Monday, which wounded four civilians, were claimed by the group. “Because it was a funeral of a high-profile man, many civilians were gathered there from other districts of Nangarhar. Among the people attending were MPs and members of the council,” Aziz said.
Afghanistan is also facing violence from the Taliban, as the US tries to usher in peace talks after signing a troop withdrawal agreement in February with the militants. The bomb devastated family groups who were mourning together. “Three of my nephews and one of my brothers were martyred,” one witness told state television. “He was standing on my left, his name was Ismael. There was a rain of dead bodies.”
The Taliban say they are holding back from attacking urban centres and their operations are aimed at government security forces. The Taliban said they were not responsible for either attack, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility from any other group.
After signing a withdrawal deal with US troops, the Taliban say they are holding back from attacks on urban centres and focusing on security forces. Violence has surged overall compared with the same period last year.
The neighbourhood to which the hospital belongs is mostly home to Hazaras, a minority who are mostly Shia Muslims. They have frequently been targeted by Islamic State, including at civilian sites including a gym and a school.