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Gunmen attacked a hospital that houses a maternity clinic in Kabul, killing at least 16 people, including two newborn babies, and a suicide bomber killed at least 24 others at a funeral, on a morning of double tragedy for Afghanistan.
On Tuesday in the Afghan capital, soldiers ran out of the hospital. carry small babies wrapped in blood stained blankets to the waiting ambulances, after the attackers made their way between the wards.
The attack on the most vulnerable civilians, including children as young as a few hours and exhausted new mothers, sparked a wave of horror and revulsion.
“These newborns, among the first voices they heard, on the first day of their lives, was the sound of gunshots … and among their first experiences, being the target of a war in which they and their mothers did not participate” , Shaharzad Akbar, the chairman of the independent Afghan human rights commission tweeted. “Will their lives, like ours, continue to be shaped by war?”
It started with a bomb blast at the entrance to Dasht-e-Barchi Hospital, one of the busiest in the capital, around 10 a.m. local time. The gunmen stormed in and started shooting.
“They started shooting as soon as they got to the door,” a doctor crying to Tolo television in Afghanistan said shortly after escaping. “Four mothers were killed in the room, two were in a safe room and survived. It was a devastating scene. “
A journalist who was able to access the hospital shortly after the attack said the gunmen appeared to have opened fire in all the rooms, and in everyone inside, with some bodies still lying in the recovery room where the women are taken after delivery .
Husbands, brothers and fathers, who are normally not allowed to enter maternity wards in Afghanistan, desperately packed the nearby streets, asking for news about whether their relatives had survived.
“Sixteen women and children were martyred and sixteen other civilians were injured in today’s brutal terrorist attack,” said Feroz Bashiri, director of the government’s media and information center.
Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF) confirmed that he runs the maternity section of the hospital. “Explosions and shooting were reported. Efforts are still underway to evacuate patients and staff. “ international charity tweeted.
Hours earlier, he shared a photo of a baby, delivered safely by emergency caesarean section at the clinic.
Among the dead were mothers, nurses and babies, the interior ministry said, and authorities shared a photo of two young children lying dead inside the hospital. About 100 people were rescued from the building, including three foreigners.
The attack in Nangahar province in eastern Afghanistan targeted the funeral of a police commander who had died the night of a heart attack, said Niloofar Aziz, a member of the provincial council.
The explosion at 11 in the morning killed a council member, Lala Khan. Her father and brothers were among at least 68 injured. The magnitude of the casualties meant that the death toll could rise, authorities warned.
“Because it was a funeral for a high-profile man, many civilians gathered there from other districts of Nangarhar. Attendees included parliamentarians and council members, ”said Aziz.
The bomb devastated family groups mourning together. “Three of my nephews and one of my brothers were martyred”, a witness said to state television. “He was standing on my left, his name was Ismael. There was a shower of corpses.
The Taliban said they were not responsible for any of the attacks, and that there was no immediate claim of responsibility by any other group.
After signing a withdrawal agreement with US troops, the Taliban say they are holding back attacks on urban centers and are targeting the security forces. Violence has generally increased compared to the same period last year.
The neighborhood to which the hospital belongs is mostly home to Hazaras, a minority mostly Shiite Muslims. They have often been targeted by the Islamic State, including in civilian sites such as a gym and school.
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