By Abdul Adil
(The Muslim News): Armed assault in a maternity section of a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan left at least 16 people dead. Among the victims were newborn babies, their mothers and the nurses. In another attack on the same day, suicide attack took place at a funeral prayer in Nangarhar province, eastern Afghanistan killing 24 civilians and injuring 68.
“Today’s terrorist attack on a maternity hospital in Dasht-e-Barchi, Kabul is unforgivable,” Marwa Amini, an interior ministry spokesperson, wrote on social media. “Attacks on pregnant mothers, on sick people and on newborns that have new eyes to the world are not in any dictionary. Newborns breathe the first moments of life with the most horrific scenes. Shame on the terrorists.”
According to Government officials, at least three gunmen wearing police uniforms entered the hospital, throwing grenades and shooting. Some sources said the armed men attacked on the hospital with suicide bombing. The gunmen then proceeded to maternity section, which is operated by international aid group Doctors Without Borders, or MSF. The hospital is the Shia Muslim Hazara community which has been the target of terrorist organisations Isis and the Taliban
Afghan police and special forces were able to evacuate more than 100 people to safety. They managed to kill the terrorists.
Terrorist group Daesh claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Afghani President Ashraf Ghani blamed the attacks on the Taliban.
“In order to provide security for public places and to thwart attacks and threats from the Taliban and other terrorist groups, I am ordering Afghan security forces to switch from an active defence mode to an offensive one and to start their operations against the enemies,” he said in a televised speech.
“Today’s terrorist attack on a maternity hospital in Dasht-e-Barchi, Kabul is unforgivable,” Marwa Amini, an interior ministry spokesperson, wrote on social media. “Attacks on pregnant mothers, on sick people and on newborns that have new eyes to the world are not in any dictionary. Newborns breathe the first moments of life with the most horrific scenes. Shame on the terrorists.”
Hamdullah Mohib, Afghanistan’s national security adviser, also blamed the Taliban and said they were not interested in the peace they had brokered with the US.
“The attacks of the last two months show us and the world that [the] Taliban & their sponsors do not and did not intend to pursue peace. Their attacks this spring against Afghans are comparable to the level of fighting in past fighting seasons,” Mohib tweeted Tuesday.
[Photo: Afghan security forces inspect the scene after gunmen attack to Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) hospital in Dasht-e-Barchi region of Kabul, Afghanistan, on May 12, 2020. Photographer: Haroon Sabawoon/AA]
