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© Reuters
Unknown assailants killed at least 24 mothers, newborns and nurses in the maternity ward of a hospital in Kabul. At least 16 people were injured, the health ministry said.
The tragedy took place on Tuesday and received a massive condemnation. No group has claimed responsibility.
In another incident at a police chief’s funeral in the eastern city of Nangahar, a suicide bomber blew himself up and killed at least 32, and the Islamic State claimed responsibility. After more than 100 casualties in Afghanistan in one day, President Ashraf Ghani ordered the resumption of offensives against the Taliban and other anti-government groups.
But the impact comes from the attack in Kabul, which the Taliban said had nothing to do with it. The attack started around 10 a.m. with two explosions and automatic fire. A doctor told the BBC that there were about 140 people in the hospital at the time.
The maternity ward is run by Doctors Without Borders and some of the workers there are foreigners. One hundred women, children and three foreigners were rescued by Afghan special forces.
An eyewitness told Reuters that the attackers shot everyone in the building for no apparent reason. The attack sites were three and they were wearing police uniforms. After several hours of firefighting, they were killed.
The hospital is located in an area of the capital populated mainly by Shiites, and there have been attacks by the Islamic State against them before. The group’s leader in South Asia and the Far East was arrested in Kabul on Monday. But the Taliban are also attacking hospitals: The last serious terrorist attack was on September 20, when a truck carrying explosives exploded in front of a hospital in Zabul province.
Reuters describes how Zainab, 27, tried to conceive for 7 years, prayed for 9 months this time that everything would be all right, gave birth to a boy on Tuesday and was killed four hours later. Her parents brought her from Bamiyan 3 hours from the capital, especially to be safe for delivery.
The victims included 2 newborns and 16 women, including the mothers of 6 babies.
“In my entire 20-year career, I have never seen such a horrible and brutal act,” said Dr. Hassan Kamel, director of Ataturk Children’s Hospital in Kabul.
The entire medical community in Kabul is scared and trying to resume work. “I saw how they killed patients who prayed for their lives during the holy month of Ramadan. It is very difficult for me to work now,” said one of the hospital nurses.
