At least 15 killed as blasts, gunfire hit Kabul hospital

First attack took place at the military-run Sardar Daud Hospital in the Wazir Akbar area of the capital

KABUL:

At least 15 people were killed and 34 wounded when two explosions followed by gunfire hit Afghanistan's biggest military hospital in Kabul, a Taliban security official said on Tuesday.

"Two explosions occurred in Kabul's District 10 area," said Deputy Spokesperson of the IEA Bilal Karimi.

The explosions took place at the entrance of the 400-bed Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital in central Kabul and security forces had been sent to the area, Interior ministry spokesman Qari Saeed Khosty said.

There was no confirmation of casualty numbers but a Taliban security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were at least 15 dead and 34 wounded.

Taliban officials claimed that special forces arrived soon after and killed the remaining attackers before they could enter the hospital premises.

A health worker at the hospital, who managed to escape, said he heard a large explosion followed by a couple of minutes of gunfire. About ten minutes later, there was a second, larger explosion, he said.

Last month, an apparent bomb attack on worshippers at a Shia mosque in the Afghan city of Kunduz killed at least 55 people, in the bloodiest assault since US forces left the country.

Read: ‘Islamic State in Afghanistan could be able to attack US in 6 months’

Scores more victims from the minority community were wounded in the blast, which has not been claimed but appears designed to further destabilise Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban takeover.

Dozens were killed and injured in the attack. The militant Islamic State group has carried out multiple attacks against the new government of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

 

Additional input by Reuters