19 dead, 50 wounded in Kabul hospital attack: official

[ejaz007]

19 dead, 50 wounded in Kabul hospital attack: official
"I am inside the hospital. I heard a big explosion coming from the first checkpoint," according to a witness

By AFP
November 02, 2021

Smoke rise form the blast site. Picture Twitter

KABUL: At least 19 people were killed and 50 were injured when a Kabul hospital was attacked on Tuesday, a health ministry official said, after the Taliban confirmed two blasts and a witness reported gunfire.

"Nineteen dead bodies and about 50 wounded people have been taken to hospitals in Kabul," the official, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

The explosions were the latest in a string of attacks in the weeks since the Taliban seized power in August.

Taliban’s struggle to bring stability to Afghanistan has been dogged by a series of bloody assaults by Daesh’s local chapter.

Tuesday’s attack has not yet been claimed by any group.

"I am inside the hospital. I heard a big explosion coming from the first checkpoint. We were told to go to safe rooms. I also hear guns firing," a doctor at the Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital in Kabul told AFP.

"I can still hear gun firing inside the hospital building. I think the attackers are going from room to room... like the first time it was attacked," the doctor added.

The hospital was previously attacked in 2017, when gunmen disguised as medical personnel killed at least 30 people.

AFP journalists heard a second blast in the city, as well as the sound of gunfire.
- Ambulances speeding through Kabul -

An Italian NGO which runs a separate hospital in the capital tweeted that it has received nine patients with injuries from the blast site in the capital’s 10th police district.

Pictures shared on social media showed black smoke billowing into the air after the explosions, the first of which went off at around 1:00 pm (0830 GMT).
AFP journalists saw Taliban fighters racing to the scene in two armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and pick-up trucks.

Roads close to the heavily fortified "Green Zone" where the buildings of several former Western embassies are located were closed off to traffic and Taliban guards scaled up searches.

Sirens could be heard in the streets and ambulances were seen speeding towards the blast site.

19 dead in suicide attack on Kabul military hospital

KABUL: At least 19 people were killed and 50 others wounded in an attack on a military hospital in Kabul on Tuesday, the latest assault to rock Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power.The attack...

www.thenews.com.pk

 

[Darius77]

DEVELOPING STORY
News
Afghanistan: Deadly blasts near military hospital in Kabul
At least 19 people were killed and 43 wounded in two explosions, interior ministry sources told Al Jazeera.

Injured victims of the blasts being shifted to an emergency hospital [EPA]
Published On 2 Nov 2021

At least 19 people were killed and 43 wounded when two explosions, followed by gunfire, hit Afghanistan’s biggest military hospital in the capital Kabul, interior ministry sources told Al Jazeera on Tuesday.
The gunshots were also heard near the Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan military hospital in the Afghan capital, according to witnesses and a government spokesman.
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Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman of the Islamic Emirate, told reporters that at least two blasts took place at the entrance of the 400-bed hospital in Kabul’s 10th district. Witnesses told Al Jazeera it was a car bomb.
“Security forces are deployed to the area, there is no information about casualties,” he said on Twitter.

Earlier, interior ministry spokesman Saeed Khosty said there were casualties in the blasts, but did not confirm the death toll.
Photographs shared by residents showed a plume of smoke after the blasts in the former diplomatic zone in the Wazir Akbar Khan area in central Kabul.
ISIL affiliate
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But the official Bakhtar News Agency quoted witnesses saying a number of fighters from an ISIL (ISIS) affiliate, entered the hospital and clashed with security forces. Al Jazeera, however, could not independently verify the report.

The blasts add to a growing list of attacks and killings since the Taliban completed their victory over the previous Western-backed government in August [Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency])
The blasts add 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.

ISIL affiliate Islamic State in Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K), which has carried out a series of attacks on mosques and other targets since the Taliban’s seizure of Kabul in August, mounted a complex attack on the 400-bed hospital in 2017, killing more than 30 people.
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.
He said it was unclear whether the blasts and the gunfire were inside the sprawling hospital complex, the largest military hospital in Afghanistan.
Taliban Special Forces have since been sent to the scene, according to the interior ministry.
Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies

At least 19 killed as blasts, gunfire hit Kabul military hospital

At least 19 people killed and dozens of others wounded in explosions and gunfire, interior ministry sources say.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[FuturePAF]

They need to be able to detect chatter amongst these kinds of attackers to hopefully detect these attacks before they occur.

Also, trusted local elder need to be engaged to help counter the ideology of groups like Daesh.

 

[terry5]

Innalillahi wainalahi rajioun

 

[STREANH]

Sad news. I've heard former intelligence officers and soldiers have joined ISIS-K because they weren't getting paid. So we can expect even more tragic events taking place in the future.

Left Behind After U.S. Withdrawal, Some Former Afghan Spies and Soldiers Turn to Islamic State - WSJ

 

[Solidify]

Inna Lillahi wa inna uilayhi raji'un