At Least 5 Killed After Gunmen Storm Kabul Maternity Hospital (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – At least five people had been killed, including three women and a child after Gunmen stormed a maternity hospital in the Afghan capital, Kabul, according to local Tolo news.
Two blasts and gunfire were heard in Kabul on Tuesday as unidentified attackers stormed into a hospital in the western part of Afghanistan's capital, according to local media.
Footage has emerged from near the scene of Tuesday's hospital attack in Kabul.
In videos posted by local media and eyewitnesses, heavy gunfire is heard in the vicinity of a Doctors Without Borders clinic in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood of west Kabul.
Interior Ministry spokesman Tareq Arian confirmed the attack and said more than 80 women and babies had been evacuated by Afghan security forces from the government-run hospital, where medical charity Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres - MSF) runs a maternity clinic.
According to the local outlet TOLOnews, a blast occurred near the hospital, while local residents heard sounds of at least two explosions and gunfire from inside the building.
Some people remained trapped in the hospital and several doctors had leapt to an adjacent building after at least three attackers wearing police uniforms entered, throwing grenades and shooting, government officials said.
Black smoke continued to rise into the sky over the hospital located in the Dashti Barchi neighbourhood of Kabul, a mostly Shia neighbourhood that has seen past attacks by the ISIL (ISIS) armed group.
A paediatrician who fled the hospital told AFP he heard a loud explosion at the entrance of the building.
The 100-bed government-run facility is supported by MSF, said Wahidullah Mayar, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health.
It wasn't immediately clear whether the attack had caused any casualties and what group was behind it. The Taliban denied its involvement.
