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Babies, mothers and health workers were killed by a group of gunmen during an attack on a Kabul maternity hospital in Afghanistan on Tuesday. Thirteen people died, according to authorities.
“The terrorists killed 13 innocent people, including two babies, in the attack on the hospital. The balance also includes mothers and nurses,” said Tareq Arian, spokesman for the Interior Ministry.
The hospital, which has a major maternity hospital in the country, is located in the west of the Afghan capital, where the Hazara minority lives, a frequent target of attacks by militants of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.
During the relief operation, which lasted several hours, the babies were rescued by heavily armed soldiers, wrapped in blankets.
More than 100 people had to be evacuated, including three foreign citizens.
A pediatrician, who managed to escape from the hospital, told the France-Presse agency that he heard a loud explosion at the entrance of the establishment.
“The hospital was full of patients and doctors, and there was total panic,” he explained, asking not to be identified.
“Hospitals and medical equipment should not be attacked. We call on all parties to stop these attacks,” asked Deputy Health Minister Waheed Majroh.
Suicidal attack during funeral on a bloody day
This wave of violence in Afghanistan coincides with the health crisis caused by the new coronavirus, which forces the mobilization of military personnel across the country to contain the spread of the pandemic.
An hour after the attack on the Doctors Without Borders-supported maternity hospital in Kabul, a suicide bomber killed at least 24 people during the funeral of a police commander in the eastern province of Nangarhar, according to the province’s spokesman. , Attaullah Khogyani.
“At around 11 am, a terrorist detonated the explosives during a funeral,” he said.
Amir Mohamad, one of the 50 people injured in the attack, said thousands of people gathered for the funeral, ceremonies that generally gather large crowds in Afghanistan.
Bomb attacks by groups such as the Islamic State or the Taliban are frequent in the country.
However, Taliban insurgents have not claimed responsibility for any major attack in Kabul since signing a landmark agreement with Washington in late February. In that pact, the United States promised a total withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan in 14 months.
The Taliban, for their part, have stopped trying attacks against US and NATO troops, but have intensified violence against Afghan forces.
Peace talks between the rebels and the Kabul government, scheduled for March 10, another point of the agreement, have not yet started.
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