Gunmen attack Doctors Without Borders clinic in Kabul
May 12, 2020
Armed men have attacked a medical clinic in the Afghan capital. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Gul
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Gunmen stormed a Doctors Without Borders medical clinic in the western part of the Afghan capital city of Kabul on Tuesday, setting off a gun battle with police and security forces, according to the Afghan Interior Ministry.
At least 13 people — including two infants — were killed in in the attack on Dasht-e-Barchi Hospital, and 15 others were wounded, officials said.
"Our special forces are in the area," said Marwa Amini, a spokeswoman for the ministry, adding that special police units have cordoned off the site and are trying to bring the situation under control.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, however the Taliban denied it was behind the attack.
The Interior Ministry said that more than 80 civilians including children were rescued by special police forces. Pictures released by the ministry showed security forces rescuing babies, women and medical workers from the hospital.
Deputy health minister reportedly visiting
The deputy health minister may have been visiting the clinic at the time, an interior ministry source said.
Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French name Medecins Sans Frontieres have not yet commented on the matter. The humanitarian organization runs a maternity clinic at the hospital.
A paediatrician who fled the besieged building told the AFP news agency that he heard a loud explosion at the entrance of the hospital. "The hospital was full of patients and doctors; there was total panic inside," he said.
An anonymous security official said gunfire and an explosion were heard after two or three assailants in military uniform entered the hospital, the German Press Agency reported.
Video footage shared on social media showed trails of white and black smoke rising from a hospital in Kabul's Dashti Barchi, a mostly Shiite neighbourhood that has been the target of past attacks by Islamic State militants.
However, it was unclear why the hospital, a 100-bed facility that provides health services to the area, was targeted.
Both the Taliban and the Islamic State are active in and around Kabul and have been known to target security forces and the military, as well as civilians.
The Taliban say they are refraining from attacking urban centres and that their operations are aimed at government security forces.
At least 50 people were wounded in a separate attack on a funeralImage: Reuters/Parwiz
Funeral bombing
The Afghan government also reported on Tuesday a number of fatalities following a suicide attack at a funeral of a police commander in the east of the country.
At least 50 people were wounded in the attack. The funeral was also attended by government officials and Hazrat Ali — a member of parliament — who survived the attack.
The Taliban also denied responsibility for the suicide attack. The attack took place in the Khewa district of Nangarhar province on the border with Pakistan where Islamic State militants are known to operate.
mvb/aw (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)
Endless battle for power in Afghanistan
Seventeen years after the US invasion of Afghanistan, the war-torn country remains in the grip of Islamist violence. A string of deadly attacks in the last year suggests militants are stronger than ever.
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Fragile security
Repeated attacks in Afghanistan in 2018 and 2019 have killed and wounded hundreds of innocent Afghans, and shown the world the fragile and worsening state of security in the conflict-stricken country. The incidents have plunged war-weary Afghan citizens into a state of despair and highlighted the limitations faced by the government in Kabul in ensuring public security.
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A long series of attacks
The violent incidents have made Afghanistan once again a staple of international headlines. Outfits like the Taliban and the "Islamic State" (IS) have claimed responsibility for the attacks. The Afghan government is under heavy pressure to restore security and take back territory controlled by a number of insurgent groups, including the Taliban and IS.
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Spring offensive
In 2018, the Taliban announced the start of their annual spring offensive, dismissing an offer of peace talks by President Ashraf Ghani. The militants, fighting to restore their version of strict Islamic law to Afghanistan, said their campaign was a response to a more aggressive US military strategy adopted in 2017, which aims to force the militants into peace talks.
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Trump's Afghanistan policy
US President Donald Trump unveiled a new strategy for Afghanistan in 2017, vowing to deploy more troops to train and advise Afghan security forces. Trump also pledged to support Afghan troops in their war against the Taliban and maintain US presence in the country for as long as there was a need for it. In 2019, he reversed course and promised a troop pullout.
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Afghan peace process
Despite President Ghani's offer in February 2018 for peace talks "without preconditions," the Taliban had until 2019 shown no interest, dismissing the peace overtures as a "conspiracy."
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Pakistani support
Pakistan has been under pressure from Kabul and Washington to stop offering safe havens to militants blamed for attacks in Afghanistan, a charge Islamabad denies and insists that its influence over the insurgents has been exaggerated. Kabul and Islamabad regularly trade accusations of harboring the other country's militants and the harsh language has underscored the strains between them.
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Role of the warlords
Apart from the Taliban, Afghan warlords exercise massive influence in the country. Last year, Hizb-i-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar returned to Kabul after a 20-year exile to play an active role in Afghan politics. In September 2016, the Afghan government signed a deal with Hekmatyar in the hope that other warlords and militant groups would seek better ties with Kabul.
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An inefficient government
In the midst of an endless battle for power, President Ghani's approval ratings continue to plummet. Rampant corruption in the Afghan government and a long tug-of-war within the US-brokered national unity government has had a negative impact on the government's efforts to eradicate terrorism.
