Taliban set to combat Afghan gov’t forces

THE Taliban on Wednesday said they were prepared to battle Afghan forces after the president t ol d troops t o resume offensive operations following grisly attacks that have further unravelled a fragile peace process.

New details have emerged on Tuesday’s assault on a Kabul maternity hospital, where at least 24 people including infants, mothers and nurses were killed. The daylight attack was followed by a blast at a funeral in the country’s east that killed 32 mourners.

According to international humanitarian organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders, which runs the maternity wing at the Barchi Hospital in west Kabul, one woman gave birth during the lengthy attack.

“While pregnant women and babies were seeking health care in one of the most vulnerable states in life … attackers stormed the maternity [unit] through a series of explosions and gunfire lasting for hours,” MSF said in a statement.

The group said at least one Afghan colleague appeared to have been among those killed in the “revolting” attack.

Pres i dent Ashraf Ghani blamed both that assault and the funeral bombing on the Taliban and the Islamic State group, ordering Afghan troops to “resume their operations against the enemy”.

For week s A fg ha n forces had been on a “defensive” post ure to ease peace ta l k s wit h t he Taliban.

But the insurgents, who denied involvement in Tuesday’s attacks, warned they were “fully prepared” to counter any strikes by Afghan forces.

“From now onwards the responsibility of further escalation of violence and its ramifications shall fall squarely on the shoulders of the Kabul administration,” the Taliban said in a statement.

The aggressive threatens the fraying peace process just as Afghanistan grapples with a public health crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

The UN Security Council strongly condemned “the heinous and cowardly terrorist attacks”.

“De l i b e r a t e l y t a r g e t i n g infants, children, mothers and health workers as such is especially abhorrent,” a Council statement read, emphasising that “any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable”.

MSF has experienced several tragedies in Afghanistan, including the shooting of five staff in 2004 in northwestern Badghis province, prompting the group to pull out of the war-torn nation after 24 years.