There’s no humanity left. Mother and her unborn child buried

Hospital officials say the mothers of 10 newborns were among the dead

Hajar Sarwari was in labour with her second child at a western Kabul maternity ward on Tuesday morning when gunmen shot her twice in the abdomen, killing her and her unborn child.

Sarwari’s family buried her atop a hill under overcast skies on the outskirts of the Afghan capital on Wednesday, one day after three gunmen killed 24 people in a Doctors Without Borders maternity ward. The baby remained in her womb.

“There’s no humanity left in this country,” said Sarwari’s husband, Mohammad Hussain Yaqoobi. He stood near his wife’s grave, marked by a simple black headstone and a small mound of upturned earth. “The attackers had no conscience. How can they justify shooting dead innocent newborns and their mothers?”

The burial was one of many across Kabul on Wednesday. Hospital officials said the mothers of 10 newborns were among Tuesday’s dead, as were those of two infants, pregnant women, nurses and a security guard. Sixteen were wounded.

Suicide bombing

More funerals were held about 160km to the east, in Nangahar province. A suicide bombing there on Tuesday killed 32 and wounded 133. The attacker struck hours after the hospital rampage began and targeted a funeral gathering for a prominent local security official. The Daesh claimed responsibility.

The brutality of the attack on the maternity ward paired with the funeral bombing shocked Kabul and the country. The Taliban denied responsibility, but the militants have increased attacks on Afghan forces in other parts of the country for weeks. Afghan security officials linked that uptick in attacks to the Tuesday’s attacks on civilians.

Washington Post After Hajar and her unborn baby’s burial, the women gathered inside one room to console her mother, mother-in-law and sister and pay their respect to the family.