Several gunmen, including at least one dressed as a doctor, attacked a military hospital in an area close to the US Embassy in the Afghan capital, Kabul. Witnesses told Reuters that the attackers engaged security forces inside the building.
Abdul Qadir, a worker at the hospital, told Reuters that a number of gunmen appeared to be inside the hospital. He said he saw one gunmen dressed as a doctor take out an AK-47 and open fire, killing at least one patient and one hospital worker. He also heard shots from several other points.
The 400-bed military hospital is located near two civilian hospitals in the Wazir Akbar Khan area of Kabul, home to several heavily guarded embassies.
#Kabul – A doctor says fighting ongoing between security forces and attackers at third and forth floors of Sardar M. Daud Khan Hospital.
— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) March 8, 2017
According to Afghan TOLO News, citing a doctor at the Sardar M. Daud Khan Hospital, fighting is still underway between security forces and attackers.
The assailants apparently first set off an explosion at the entrance of the building before entering the facility. A security source told the media outlet that at least five suicide bombers targeted the hospital.
Dawlat Waziri, spokesman for the defense ministry, said a number of attackers have entered the hospital.
“Our security forces are on location fighting the attackers but also keeping in mind to not cause any casualties, so it is a difficult situation,” he told Al Jazeera.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack on the military hospital, TOLO News reports.
The latest attack comes after at least 15 people were killed and wounded in coordinated attacks on a police station and an intelligence service office in Kabul last Wednesday, which were claimed by Taliban militants.
