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More than 30 people are dead and dozens more are wounded after an attack on a military hospital in the Afghan capital, Kabul, in which gunmen dressed as doctors slipped into the facility and battled security forces inside the building for several hours.
Key points:
- Attackers dressed as medical personnel attack 400-bed hospital
- Gunmen hold out against special forces surrounding buildings
- Islamic State claims responsibility, Taliban denies involvement
The attack began when a suicide bomber blew himself up on Wednesday at the rear of the 400-bed Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital and three attackers with automatic weapons and hand grenades entered the complex, security officials said.
The gunmen, dressed as medical personnel, had taken position on upper floors of the hospital and engaged special forces sent to the scene, officials said.
Security forces blocked off the area around the hospital, near a busy traffic intersection, and special forces soldiers descended on to the roof of the main building from helicopters.
As fighting went on, a second explosion was heard from inside.
"Our forces are there and there is heavy fighting," said defence ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri.
Officials, who had earlier said at least three people had been killed, revised the figure after security forces carried out checks of the buildings in the hospital complex.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Taliban had "no connection" with the attack, a spokesman for the militant group said.
Islamic State's Amaq News Agency said in a statement that its fighters had attacked the hospital.
The group has mounted several high-profile attacks on civilian targets in Kabul over the past year, including several on prominent Shi'ite targets.
The raid on the hospital, across the road from the heavily fortified US embassy, underlines warnings by government officials that high-profile attacks in Kabul are likely to escalate this year.
Hidden weapons
President Ashraf Ghani said the attack "trampled on all human values".
"In all religions, a hospital is regarded as an immune site and attacking it is attacking the whole of Afghanistan," he said in impromptu remarks during a speech for International Women's Day in Kabul.
The NATO-led Resolute Support mission said it was ready to assist Afghan security services.
Abdul Qadir, a worker at the hospital, said he saw one gunman dressed in a white doctor's coat take out a concealed AK-47 assault rifle and open fire, killing at least one patient and one hospital worker.
As the fighting went on, some patients climbed out of the building and could be seen sheltering on window ledges visible from outside the hospital, which treats military casualties from around Afghanistan.
The attack comes just a week after dozens of people were killed and wounded in coordinated attacks on a police station and an office of the intelligence service in Kabul.
Reuters
Topics: terrorism, unrest-conflict-and-war, afghanistan
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