Kabul [Afghanistan], May 12 (ANI): Fourteen people, including two infants, were killed at a maternity hospital in western part of Kabul, which was attacked by gunmen on Tuesday, the Interior Affairs Ministry of Afghanistan said. Security forces shut down the attack after five hours, with the killing of four attackers who an eyewitness said were wearing Afghan military uniforms, Tolo News cited.
According to the Interior Affairs Ministry 72 civilians, including children, were rescued in the attack. Timor Sharan, Deputy Minister for Policy & Program, Independent Directorate of Local Governance, in a tweet said: “#Taliban #Haqqani #Daesh regardless of who carried out this attack and for what purpose.
The sheer level of brutality is unimaginable – targeting a maternity hospital filled with newborn babies, pregnant mothers and anxious families.” According to Tolo News report, Taliban denied any involvement in the attack on the 100-bed government-run hospital in the Dasht-e-Barchi area of PD13 in western Kabul, which has sparked strong condemnation from the international community.
Meanwhile on Tuesday morning, in Nangarhar, in the east of Afghanistan , a funeral ceremony was hit by an explosion in which 24 people were killed and more than a dozen wounded, according to sources.
Citing eye-witnesses, Tolo News reported that explosion happened in a crowd of people who were gathered for the funeral of Shaikh Akram, a former commander of public uprising forces in Shewa.
The attacks also claimed the life of Abdullah Malikzai, a member of Nangarhar ‘s provincial council. Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani ordered Afghan forces to switch to “offensive” mode, and to resume attacks on the Taliban , in the wake of recent attacks in the country.
Earlier this year, in February end, US and Taliban had signed a peace deal in Doha after months of negotiations, aimed at ending the 18-year long war in Afghanistan . In March, at least 27 civilians were killed and eight others were wounded in a terror attack on a Gurudwara in Kabul, Afghanistan . (ANI)Â
3 ‘Key’ ISIS leaders including Abu Omar Khorasani arrested in Kabul, says NDS
Afghan security forces have arrested top ISIS commander Zia-Ul-Haq , known as Abu Omar Khorasani along with two other top Daesh leaders. In a joint operation, Afghan police and National Directorate of Security (NDS) special forces apprehended Khorasani, who is Daesh leader for the south and east areas of Asia and an Afghanistan citizen, in the Kart-e-Naw area in PD8 of Kabul city.
The two other terrorists- the terror group’s head of public relations and its intelligence head -were also apprehended. Five days ago, Afghanistan intelligence agency had busted a joint terror group -ISIS and Haqqani Network and destroyed their centre through three targeted operations by the Special Forces of the National Security in Kabul , TOLO News quoted the NDS’s statement.
Led by Sanatullah, a Daesh commander the group comprised of Daesh and Haqqani network members, was involved in the rocket attack on President Ghani’s inauguration ceremony, the attack on the Sikh temple in Kabul , the attack on Afghan politicians gathering in the west of Kabul , and another two rocket attacks on Kabul , the NDS said.
“The NDS in continuation of its special operations for identifying, tracking, and destroying terrorist cells that have martyred our compatriots and disrupted Kabul security, has destroyed the joint ISIS and Haqqani Network Centre,” NDS said in a release.
The NDS added that the group was also involved in targeted killings in Kabul In the past month, the Afghan forces have made key arrests of ISIS leaders. On April 22, The forces had arrested a top commander of the Khorasan wing of ISIS.
The arrested, Munib Mohammad is a native of Pakistan . On April 4, the Afghan security forces arrested a top commander of the Khorasan wing of ISIS. The arrested, Munib Mohammad is a native of Pakistan.
India condemns barbaric terror attacks in Afghanistan
India on Tuesday strongly condemned the “barbaric” terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, including one on a maternity hospital in Kabul that killed two newborns and a dozen others and on a funeral and a military check post in Afghanistan, terming them as “crimes against humanity.”
Fourteen people, including two newborns, were killed at a maternity hospital in the western part of Kabul which was attacked by terrorists. Also in a separate attack in Nangarhar province, in the east of Afghanistan, a funeral ceremony was hit by an explosion killing at least 24 people and injuring over a dozen.
A statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said: “India strongly condemns the barbaric terrorist attacks against innocent civilians, including women and children, at the Dasht-e-Barchi hospital maternity ward, funeral in Nangarhar province and the army check post in Laghman province on 11-12 May.”
It said such “reprehensible attacks, including on mothers, newly born children, nurses and mourning families are appalling and constitute crimes against humanity.” In an apparent reference to Pakistan-based terror groups, it said that perpetrators of such attacks should be forced to eradicate safe havens and sanctuaries that have abetted terrorism in the region for decades.
“They should be forced to eradicate safe havens and sanctuaries that have abetted terrorism in the region for decades and caused immense miseries to untold number of people in the region,” the MEA said. The statement said India would stand with the people, government and security forces of Afghanistan in their efforts to bring peace and stability to the nation.
“The holy month of Ramzan should be a period of fasting, prayer and reflection. We call for an immediate cessation of terrorist violence and cooperation to deal with the humanitarian situation arising from the spread of coronavirus in Afghanistan,” the MEA said.
The Taliban distanced itself from the attack on the maternity hospital, and security forces shut down the attack after five hours, with the killing of four attackers who an eyewitness said were wearing Afghan military uniforms, according to local media.
According to the Afghanistan Interior Affairs Ministry 72 civilians, including children, were rescued. In Nangarhar, in the east of Afghanistan, a funeral ceremony was hit on Tuesday morning by an explosion in which at least 24 people killed and more than a dozen wounded.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, in light of attacks, has ordered Afghan forces to switch from “active defensive” mode to “offensive” mode and to resume attacks on the Taliban.
Haneef Atmar, acting Foreign Minister, condemned attacks and said that such attacks will make Afghanistan lose faith in the ongoing peace process. He also called on all parties to stop attacks, start intra-Afghan talks and pave the way for a permanent ceasefire in the country. (ANI)(ANI)Â
