Almost 20 reportedly killed as explosions rock hospital in Afghanistan's capital
Kabul — Two explosions rocked Kabul on Tuesday, leaving almost 20 people dead in an attack targeting a large military hospital, Taliban officials and a doctor said. A witness also reported gunfire. It was the latest in a string of attacks in the weeks since the Taliban seized power in August following a two-decade insurgency against the U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan.
A local official said 19 people were killed and about 50 others wounded in the attack on the hospital, but there was no public confirmation of the toll from Taliban officials.
The hardline Islamist group's struggle to bring stability to Afghanistan has been dogged by a series of bloody assaults by the local ISIS chapter, but Tuesday's attack was not immediately claimed by any group.
"I am inside the hospital. I heard a big explosion coming from the first checkpoint. We were told to go to safe rooms. I also hear guns firing," a doctor at the Sardar Mohammad Dawood Khan Hospital in Kabul told AFP. "I can still hear gun firing inside the hospital building. I think the attackers are going from room to room... like the first time it was attacked."
The hospital was previously attacked in 2017, when gunmen disguised as medical personnel killed at least 30 people.
AFP journalists heard a second blast in the city, as well as the sound of gunfire. A Taliban media spokesman confirmed both explosions.
"One explosion has happened at the gate of the military hospital and a second somewhere near the hospital, this is our initial information, we will provide more details later," he told AFP.
Qari Saeed Khosty, a spokesman for the interior ministry, said Taliban special forces had rushed to the scene to secure the area. "The blast has caused casualties, details will be shared later," he said.
An Italian NGO which runs a separate hospital in the capital tweeted that it had received nine patients with injuries from the blast site in the capital's 10th police district.
Pictures shared on social media showed black smoke billowing into the air after the explosions, the first of which went off at around 1:00 p.m. (0430 Eastern).
Although both ISIS and the Taliban are hardline Sunni Islamist militant groups, they have differed over the minutiae of religion and strategy and fought for years. ISIS Khorasan, or ISIS-K, as the Afghan franchise is known, has claimed four mass-casualty attacks since the Taliban takeover.
AFP journalists saw Taliban fighters racing to the scene in armored personnel carriers (APCs) and pick-up trucks.
Roads close to the heavily fortified "Green Zone," where the buildings of several former Western embassies are located, were closed off to traffic as Taliban guards scaled up searches.
Sirens could be heard in the streets and ambulances were seen speeding towards the blast site.
The Taliban, which has yet to be recognized by any foreign power as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, is facing multiple challenges as it tries to transition from militant group to governing power, including a worsening humanitarian crisis and major economic disruption.
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