This was published 7 years ago
Kabul hospital: Gunmen disguised as doctors assault hospital, leaving 30 dead
By Mirwais Harooni
Kabul: Gunmen disguised as doctors stormed a military hospital in the Afghan capital on Wednesday, leaving at least 30 people dead and scores injured after a bombing and a six-hour gun battle. The assault was claimed by the Islamic State extremist group.
A suicide bomber detonated explosives at the front gates, then gunmen opened fire on guards stationed inside the fortified medical compound. Several attackers were able to reach the second floor, where they fought police special forces much of the day. Military officials said the attack was quelled by about 4pm local time.
Security officials said the attackers were wearing white doctors' uniforms, and one witness said he saw a man dressed in a doctor's coat pull out a Kalashnikov assault rifle and open fire.
Patient Zia Zabuli, in hospital because of a leg wound, said he and three others hid in a room and barricaded themselves in when they saw one of the gunmen approaching.
Men cry after an attack on a military hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan.Credit: Rahmat Gul
"Together we put beds, chairs and whatever there was behind the door," he told Reuters an hour or so after a prolonged battle ended in the late afternoon.
From their hiding place, they heard gunfire and the sound of explosions from hand grenades as special forces troops battled the militants.
At one point, one of the assailants tried to break into the room where he was hiding.
"He came up to our door and kicked it several times but it did not open. Then he left," said Mr Zabuli, who was still wearing his hospital pyjamas as he limped away from the scene supported by a relative.
An Afghan soldier stands guard at the military hospital after the attack.Credit: AP
"We stayed quiet and prayed for our safety."
Defence Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said the attack was suppressed by mid-afternoon, with all three gunmen killed. As security forces swept the hospital buildings, another ministry spokesman said they found more than 30 dead and 50 wounded, including doctors, patients and hospital staff.
Afghanistan's Army helicopters fly over the biggest military hospital after the clash started between insurgent fighters and army soldiers.Credit: AP
More than 50 people were reported wounded in the assault.
When the blast went off at around 9 am local time, doctor's assistant Ahmad Mahmoodi looked up and saw a gunman on the second floor of the main building shooting indiscriminately at the hospital entrance below.
Security forces inspect the site of the attack in Kabul.Credit: AP
A security guard was killed and another person was shot in the arm.
"I was in the corridor and jumped inside the emergency ward and from one of its windows, I jumped out," he said.
Ghulam Hazrat was with his wounded brother when the gunmen appeared and shot two other visitors. He jumped out of the building, but added: "My brother is inside."
As night fell, scores of people gathered outside the hospital waiting for news of family members and friends.
One man, who did not give his name, said he had received a telephone call from his brother, who was taking care of their wounded father when the attack happened.
"He told us that he was carrying our father on his back," he said. "Now my uncle who is inside the hospital has just called and told us both were martyred. He said their bodies were next to each other."
The 9am attack on the Sardar Daud Khan hospital, located near the US Embassy and a major military base for the US-led coalition, followed a pair of similar attacks March 1 on a police station and an intelligence police facility in the Afghan capital, which left 23 people dead. Those attacks were claimed by the Taliban.
A spokesman for the Taliban denied any role in the attack, but the Islamic State claimed responsibility through its online Amaq news agency. Regional groups claiming allegiance to the Islamic State, mainly based near the border with Pakistan, have claimed several bombings in Kabul in the past year, including one that killed 22 people outside the Supreme Court.
On Tuesday night, an emergency alert sounded in the guarded diplomatic compound near the hospital, with a siren sounding and a voice repeating, "Incoming. Incoming." But Afghan security officials said on Wednesday morning that it had been a test.
The capital was clogged and chaotic on Wednesday morning, and many streets were already closed because of a public ceremony marking the third anniversary of the death of Afghanistan's former army chief and anti-Soviet militia leader, Marshal Fahim Khan.
Most government officials and Afghan leaders attended the all-day ceremony, accompanied by large numbers of government and private armed guards, at the other end of the city, and the region near the military hospital was quiet and deserted just before the blast.
Emergency and security vehicles had difficulty reaching the besieged hospital from other parts of Kabul, but wailing ambulances could be heard all morning, while army and police helicopters crisscrossed the skies. The hospital has been a target of previous terrorist attacks.
President Ashraf Ghani, who was speaking in his palace at a ceremony honouring International Women's Day when the attack occurred, urged women to stand up to such attacks.
"All women must unanimously stand against such acts," he said. "A hospital is a place that is considered immune in any law, any religion and sect. Attacking a hospital is an attack against the entire people of Afghanistan and against all the women of Afghanistan," he said.
The new attack represents an embarrassment for Ghani and security officials. It came just days after the president replaced Kabul's longtime police chief for failing to curb terrorist actions as well as rising criminal activities in the capital.
The government's chief executive officer, Abdullah Abdullah, addressed the ceremony for Fahim shortly after the attack. He called it a "crime against humanity," adding: "The only solution is to keep unity. Our enemies are only able to carry out their goals when there is political discord."
Disagreements between Abdullah and Ghani have left the government divided and weakened.
The Washington Post, Reuters