At least 8 dead, 20 wounded in Kabul military hospital attack

Kabul, Nov 2 (EFE).- At least eight people were killed and 20 others wounded on Tuesday in an ongoing attack with explosives on a military hospital in Kabul, according to official sources.

“More than eight people have died and more than 20 were injured in today’s explosions and attacks,” a member of the Taliban told EFE under anonymity, adding that the toll could increase in the coming hours.

Interior Ministry spokesperson Qari Sayed Khoty told EFE an initial explosion occurred in front of the entrance of the Sardar Mohammad Daoud Khan military hospital, located in the center of the Afghan capital, with a capacity for some 400 beds.

An eyewitness from inside the health center, who asked not to be named, told EFE that “there are attackers inside the hospital” and that “gunfire and fighting continues.”

“At least two more explosions occurred inside the hospital on the fourth and fifth floors,” he said, adding that there were between 300 and 400 people inside the hospital at the time of the attack.

“The Taliban have arrived at the hospital, but they are not professional enough to deal with the attack,” he stressed.

Qaher Zamani, another witness who was working in an office near the hospital, told EFE that he heard “two explosions in the area and, for a few minutes, also sounds of gunfire.”

The Italian nonprofit Emergency tweeted that after the explosions at least nine people were admitted to its hospital in the capital.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Sardar Mohammad Daoud Khan Hospital is the main military hospital in Kabul and is only a few meters from the US Embassy and the Afghan Ministry of Health.

The Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for attacks in at least eight of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces since the Taliban seized power on Aug.15.

The deadliest attack by the extremist group in recent months occurred on Aug.26 at Kabul airport, resulting in some 170 deaths, when thousands of Afghans were desperately trying to flee the country after the Taliban takeover.

On Oct.8, a suicide attack by the IS on a Shia mosque left at least 80 dead and about 100 wounded in Kunduz, while another similar attack a week later in southern Kandahar left another 60 dead.

According to analysts, the IS has emerged as the biggest security threat to the Taliban government in Afghanistan, carrying out regular attacks against the new government. EFE

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