(Kabul) At least 19 people were killed and 50 wounded Tuesday afternoon in the attack on the military hospital in Kabul, according to a report given to AFP by an official at the Ministry of Health.
“Nineteen bodies and around 50 wounded were taken to hospitals in the city,” the official said on condition of anonymity after the double explosion, followed by gunfire, which targeted the Sardar Mohammad Dawood Khan military hospital in the Afghan capital.
The first explosion was heard around 1 p.m. local time (4:30 a.m. EDT). It was followed by gunfire, then a second explosion and further gunfire heard by AFP journalists from the neighboring neighborhood.
From the hospital, where staff took refuge in a security room, a medical source confirmed to AFP having heard an explosion and “gunfire in progress”.
“I can still hear gunshots in the building. I think the attackers are going from room to room, ”this source later clarified.
Wave of bloody attacks
In downtown Kabul, AFP journalists saw Taliban fighters rushing to the scene in at least two armored personnel carriers and vans.
Sirens were also heard in the streets and ambulances seen speeding towards the site of the explosions.
This attack was not immediately claimed.
But since coming to power on August 15, the Taliban, who have made the return to security in the country their priority after 20 years of war, have faced a wave of bloody attacks carried out by the Islamic State (IS) group.
Its local branch, IS-K, rival and main opponent of the ruling Islamist movement, has targeted both the Taliban and the Afghan Shiite minority in recent weeks.
In recent days, a series of killings, presented by the local press as reprisals between Taliban and ISIS fighters, have been observed, particularly in the province of Nangarhar, located east of Kabul and known for be a stronghold of IS-K.
The last attack in the Afghan capital dates back to October 3. At least five people were killed in an explosion near the Id Gah mosque in Kabul, in an attack claimed by ISIS.
This same hospital, the largest military hospital in the country, had been attacked in March 2017 by assailants dressed as medical personnel, a bloody shooting of 6 hours inside the building also claimed by the IS, which had made 50 dead according to the official record, more than double according to security sources.