Suspected militants have attacked the diplomatic district in the Afghan capital of Kabul, entering the country’s largest military hospital near the US Embassy there.
photo by AFP
"The Sardar Daud Khan hospital has been attacked. The attackers have entered the hospital. We don’t have any more details for now,” Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Daulat Waziri told AFP on Wednesday.
Tolo News television quoted a doctor working at the hospital as saying that explosives were detonated and then gunmen stormed the building.
A worker at the hospital told Reuters that several gunmen, including at least one wearing a doctor’s coat, had entered the building and were shooting at patients and staffers.
Tolo News also said that at least 13 people have been injured in the attack.
Security forces have surrounded the hospital, where the assailants are said to have taken positions on the third and fourth floors of the building.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, but Taliban militants are highly suspected. Every year in the run-up to and during the spring, they step up assaults on Afghan and foreign targets as part of a special offensive.
Last week, 16 people were killed in simultaneous Taliban attacks on two security compounds in Kabul.
Especially intense fighting is expected between the government and the Taliban this spring as several recent attempts at negotiating peace between the two have failed.
(Press TV)
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