38 dead in IS attack on Kabul military hospital
Most of the victims were patients, doctors and nurses
Terrorists disguised as doctors stormed Afghanistan’s largest military hospital in Kabul on Wednesday and battled security forces, killing 38 people and injuring 70 others in an attack claimed by Islamic State.
Dense clouds of smoke billowed out of the Sardar Daud Khan hospital, located across the road from the heavily fortified US embassy, and explosions and gunfire rattled Kabul’s diplomatic district.
Dramatic footage on television showed helicopters dropping Afghan special forces on the roof of the multi-storey hospital as some hospital staff cowered on the ledge of a window.
“The attack in the capital’s central Wazir Akbar Khan neighbourhood has killed 38 people and wounded more than 70,” the Italian-run Emergency hospital said in a statement.
The dead included doctors, patients and hospital staff, officials said. A seven-year-old boy was among the seriously injured.
A statement from Islamic State’s Amaq news agency said its fighters had attacked the hospital. The group also posted photos on social media that it said were taken by its fighters within the hospital.
A spokesman for the Afghan Taliban — the group is known to distance itself from attacks on medical facilities.
Hospital administrators said three men wearing white laboratory coats began spraying bullets after a suicide bomber blew himself up at a backdoor entrance, sparking chaos inside the 400-bed facility.
At least two other loud explosions – including one that the defence ministry said was a car bomb – were heard as Afghan special forces launched a clearance operation that lasted around six hours.
The attackers were gunned down after special forces landed on the roof in a helicopter.
The raid highlights how Afghanistan’s warring parties have repeatedly targeted medical facilities, preventing conflict-displaced civilians from accessing life-saving care.
The assault came just a week after 16 people were killed in simultaneous Taliban suicide assaults on two security compounds in Kabul. Dozens were wounded as a suicide car bomber struck an Afghan police precinct in western Kabul and a five-hour gun battle ensued after another attacker sneaked in.