IS gunmen attack Kabul military hospital
KABUL — Gunmen dressed as doctors stormed Afghanistan’s largest military hospital on Wednesday, officials said, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group as it makes inroads into the warbattered country.
The assault on the Sardar Daud Khan hospital left at least 30 people dead and more than 50 others wounded, military officials said.
Medical staff hunkered down in the hospital wards posted desperate messages for help on social media, with local television footage showing some of them trapped on the ledge of a top floor window.
“Attackers are inside the hospital. Pray for us,” a hospital staff member said.
Hospital administrators said three gunmen wearing white laboratory coats were on the loose after a suicide bomber on foot blew himself up at the backdoor entrance, sparking chaos inside the 400-bed facility.
“I saw one of the attackers, armed with an AK-47 and dressed as doctor, shooting at patients and guards on the third floor,” hospital nurse Abdul Qadeer said.
“They shot my friend but I managed to flee. I had to jump over the barbed wire to escape.”
At least two other loud explosions — including what the Defense Ministry called a car bomb in the hospital’s parking lot — were heard as Afghan special forces launched a clearance operation to rein in the attackers.
“Three attackers armed with AK-47s and grenades entered the building. Our commandos are chasing them,” ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said four hours after the first explosion.
Afghanistan’s warring parties, including government forces, have repeatedly targeted medical facilities, decimating the country’s fragile health system and preventing conflict-displaced civilians from accessing life saving care.
“This is a criminal act. Nothing can justify an attack on hospitals,” Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said of the latest attack.
“We will never forgive these criminals. Unfortunately, this attack has resulted in some casualties.”
Islamic State militants claimed the attack via a verified Telegram account.
The more powerful Taliban said they were not behind the attack. The militant group, Afghanistan’s largest, is known to distance itself from attacks on medical facilities or those that result in high civilian casualties.