38 die in Afghan hospital attack
kabul — Gunmen dressed as medics stormed a hospital in the Afghan capital on Wednesday and battled security forces for hours, killing more than 38 people and wounding dozens in an attack claimed by Daesh.
A suicide bomber blew himself up at the rear of the 400-bed Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital, across the road from the heavily fortified US embassy, and three attackers with automatic weapons and hand grenades entered the complex, security officials said.
Defence Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said all three gunmen were killed. As security forces swept the hospital, another ministry spokesman said they found more than 30 dead and 50 wounded, including doctors, patients and hospital staff. —
kabul — Gunmen disguised as doctors stormed Afghanistan’s largest military hospital on Wednesday, killing at least 38 people in a six-hour attack claimed by the Daesh group as it makes inroads into the war-battered country.
More than 70 others were wounded in the assault on the Sardar Daud Khan hospital, with explosions and gunfire rattling Kabul’s diplomatic district as dense clouds of smoke rose in the sky.
Medical staff hunkered down in the hospital wards posted desper- ate messages for help on social media, with television footage show- ing some of them trapped on the ledge of a top-floor window.
Hospital administrators said three gunmen wearing white laboratory coats began spraying bullets 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 a 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 defence ministry called a car bomb in the hospital’s parking lot — 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 of the hospital in a military helicopter. “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, adding that a sevenyear-old boy was among those seriously injured.
“This egregious and morally reprehensible attack targeted people at their most vulnerable, while they were receiving treatment in the hospital, and also targeted the medical staff caring for them,” said the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
Daesh fighters claimed the attack via a verified Telegram account. The more powerful Taleban said they were not behind the raid. —