[ad_1]
India on Tuesday condemned the terrorist attack at a maternity clinic in Kabul that killed 16 people, including 11 mothers and 2 babies. A statement from the external ministry described the attack as “barbaric”.
A group of terrorists stormed a maternity hospital in the western part of Kabul and opened fire. A firefight ensued with the security forces. When it ended several hours later, authorities confirmed that 16 people had died and an equal number were injured.
Kabul counterterrorism officials said 11 mothers and at least two newborn babies were among the dead.
“Such reprehensible attacks, including against mothers, newborn children, nurses and bereaved families, are appalling and constitute crimes against humanity,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday night.
“The perpetrators of such heinous acts and their sponsors and supporters must be held accountable and brought to justice. They should be forced to eradicate safe havens and sanctuaries that have sparked terrorism in the region for decades and caused immense misery for an undetermined number of people in the region, “New Delhi said in an unusually sharp reaction, which one official said, agrees. with the brutality of the terrorist attack.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in Kabul, where both the Taliban and the Islamic State’s Khorasan province frequently attack Afghan military and security forces, as well as civilians.
The Taliban denied that they were involved.
Counter-terrorism officials in Delhi and Kabul said they would let investigators complete the investigation before reaching any conclusions. The Taliban also denied involvement in the Kabul gurdwara attack on March 25. But Afghan security forces last week destroyed a module run jointly by the ISKP and the Taliban-linked Haqqani Network that has strong ties to the deep state of Pakistan. This joint module was responsible for the gurdwara attack on March 25, Afghan forces said.
Tuesday’s attack prompted Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani to deliver a televised address to the nation that ordered security forces to end their “active defense position” and “return to offensive postures and resume operations against the enemy.”
Also read: what the Afghan peace agreement means | Opinion
While the shooting at Kabul’s Dasht-e-Barchi hospital was ongoing, a suicide bomber targeted a funeral ceremony in Nangahar province, a hotbed of the Islamic State group, killing at least 24 people and injuring 68. There was a third attack on an army Check the post in Laghman province.
Terrorist attacks on Tuesday could jeopardize a shaky peace deal signed between the United States and the Taliban in February. But the pact has not stopped attacks on Afghan security personnel and other civilian targets.
In its statement, New Delhi said that Ramzan’s holy month should be a period of fasting, prayer and reflection. “We call for the immediate cessation of terrorist violence and cooperation to deal with the humanitarian situation arising from the spread of the coronavirus in Afghanistan,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
.
[ad_2]
