At Least 60 People Killed, Wounded After Terrorist Attack on Afghan Funeral, Hospital

Reuters
By Reuters
May 12, 2020Middle East
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At Least 60 People Killed, Wounded After Terrorist Attack on Afghan Funeral, Hospital
Afghan security forces arrive at the site of an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan on May 12, 2020. (Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)

A suicide bomber in eastern Afghanistan killed and wounded at least 50 men on Tuesday in an attack on the funeral of a police commander attended by government officials and a member of parliament, officials said.

The Taliban denied responsibility for the attack on the mourners gathered in Khewa district of Nangarhar province on the border with Pakistan.

The ISIS terrorist group are known to operate in the province.

Sohrab Qaderi, a member of Nangarhar’s provincial council, said at least 50 people were killed or wounded. The member of parliament, Hazrat Ali, survived, he said.

Attaullah Khogayani, a spokesman for the provincial governor said up to 50 people were killed or wounded.

Also on Tuesday, unidentified gunmen stormed a maternity hospital in the western part of Kabul, setting off an hours-long shootout with the police and killing 14 people, including two newborn babies, their mothers and an unspecified number of nurses, Afghan officials said.

Afghanistan attack 1
Afghan security forces stand guard outside Dasht-e-Barchi Hospital which came under attack in Kabul, Afghanistan on May 12, 2020. (Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)

Several people were wounded in the attack on Dasht-e-Barchi Hospital, according to a ministry of interior official, and about 80 people were being evacuated by Afghan special forces.

Some people remained trapped in the hospital and several doctors had leaped to an adjacent building after at least three attackers wearing police uniforms entered, throwing grenades and shooting, government officials said.

No terrorist group claimed responsibility for either attack.

ISIS terrorists first appeared in eastern Afghanistan in around 2014 and battle the Taliban as well as government and foreign forces.

The Afghan affiliate of ISIS, known as ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K), after an old name for the region that includes Afghanistan, has carried out some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan over recent years.

Gunmen Terrorize Afghan Capital

Several bloody attacks in the capital in recent months have been claimed by ISIS.

On Monday, security forces said they had arrested three senior ISIS members including a regional leader.

Last week, security forces killed and arrested several members of an ISIS cell that authorities said was responsible for several attacks in Kabul including one on a Sikh temple in March.

Roadside blasts in the capital on Monday, which wounded four civilians, were claimed by the group.

Afghanistan is also facing violence around the country from the Taliban even as the United States tries to usher in peace talks after signing a troop withdrawal agreement in February with the terrorists.

The Taliban say they are holding back from attacking urban centres and their operations are aimed at government security forces.

By Abdul Qadir Sediqi and Hamid Shalizi

NTD staff and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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