Tehran, 12 May_Hospital run by intl. medical NGO attacked in Afghan capital
The hospital, near the capital city’s western area of Dasht-e Barchi, was stormed by yet-unknown militants armed with machine guns and grenades on Tuesday morning.
Witnesses reported sounds of gunfire after two blasts.
At least eight people were killed and several more were wounded in the attack.
At least 80 others, including women and children, were being evacuated from the hospital while some people remained trapped, said Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian.
Government authorities said several physicians had leapt to an adjacent building after at least three assailants wearing police uniforms entered, throwing grenades and shooting indiscriminately.
The security forces shot one attacker but clashes were going on, Arian said.
The neighborhood is home to many members of Afghanistan’s Hazara community, a mostly Shia Muslim minority that has been attacked by Daesh terrorists in the past, including at a Kabul ceremony commemorating the death of one of its leaders in March.
It was also not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack. The Taliban militant group has reportedly denied responsibility.
The international medical institution of French origin has not so far reacted to the reported attack on its facility in Kabul.
The development comes following a series of bloody attacks in recent months across Afghanistan claimed by the Taliban or the Daesh terrorist group.
Meanwhile, the Afghan government and the Taliban are in the process of exchanging prisoners as a prelude to a peace process.
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