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30 killed in Kabul attack
Islamic State group claims assault on military hospital
KABUL, Afghanistan — Gunmen wearing white lab coats stormed a military hospital in Afghanistan’s capital Wednesday, killing at least 30 people and wounding dozens in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.
The attack on the 400bed military facility, located near two civilian hospitals in Kabul’s heavily guarded diplomatic quarter, set off clashes with security forces that lasted several hours.
The brazen assault reflected the capability of militant groups in Afghanistan to stage largescale and complex attacks in the heart of Kabul, underscoring the challenges the government continues to face to improve security for ordinary Afghans.
Gen. Dawlat Waziri, a Defense Ministry spokesman, said more than 50 were wounded. Afghan forces battled the attackers floor by floor, he added. The ministry said the attackers were dressed like health workers.
Waziri said the attack included four gunmen, including two suicide bombers who detonated their explosives vests once the group was inside the hospital.
The two other attackers were shot dead by security forces, the spokesman said. A member of the security forces was killed in the shootout and three other security officers were wounded. Along with the suicide vests, the attackers also had AK-47 rifles and hand grenades, Waziri said.
Islamic State, also called ISIS, claimed the attack in a statement carried by its Amaq news agency.
An affiliate of the extremist group has carried out a number of attacks in Afghanistan in the last two years and has clashed with the more powerful and well-established Taliban, which carried out a complex attack last week in Kabul.
Afghan security forces have struggled to combat both groups since the U.S. and NATO formally concluded their combat mission at the end of 2014, switching to an advisory and counterterrorism role.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned Wednesday’s attack during an address in honor of International Women’s Day, calling it “an attack on all Afghan people and all Afghan women.”
The foreign ministry in neighboring Pakistan also condemned the attack, describing it as a “heinous terrorist attack” and expressing Islamabad’s condolences to the victims.
The acting U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan, Adele Khodr, said in a statement that hospitals, medical staff and patients “must never be placed at risk, and under no circumstances be subject to attack.”
She said that in 2016, at least 41 attacks on health care facilities and workers were recorded across Afghanistan — “an appalling catalog of attacks” that hinders “essential and lifesaving health care to all Afghans.”