14 killed in Af maternity hosp attack
In second attack, 21 killed in terror strike on funeral
Kabul, May 12: Militants stormed a maternity hospital in the western part of Kabul on Tuesday, setting off an hours-long shootout with the police and killing 14 people, including two newborn babies, their mothers and an unspecified number of nurses, Afghan officials said.
While the battle was underway, Afghan security forces struggled to evacuate the facility, carrying out babies and frantic young mothers, according to images shared by the Interior Ministry. But the day’s spasm of violence extended beyond Kabul. A suicide bomber in eastern Nangarhar province — a hotbed of the Islamic State group — targeted a funeral ceremony, killing
21 people and wounding
55. And in eastern Khost province, a bomb planted in a cart in a market killed a child and wounded 10 people.
The violence could further undermine a peace process in the wake of a deal signed between the United States and the Taliban in February, which envisages the start of talks among key Afghan figures, including government representatives, and the Taliban.
Relentless, near-daily attacks have also left Afghan authorities illprepared to face the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, which has infected more than 4,900 people in the country and killed at least 127.
Soon after the Kabul attack started, black smoke rose into the sky over the hospital in Dashti Barchi, a mostly Shiite neighborhood that has been the site of many past attacks by Islamic State militants. The Interior Ministry spokesman, Tareq Arian, said over 100 women and babies were evacuated from the building before it was over. Arian said 15 others, including women, men and children were wounded in the attack.