Kabul: According to media sources, two explosions heard near the Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan military hospital in Afghanistan’s capital city Kabul on Tuesday killed at least 19 people and injured more than 50 others. The number of casualties is expected to rise.
The Kabul hospital attack, according to a Taliban official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, was carried out by a suicide bomber and gunmen. Residents in the vicinity uploaded images of a column of smoke rising near the city’s former diplomatic zone in Wazir Akbar Khan. Over the area, at least two helicopters were seen flying.
The explosions occurred outside the entrance of a 400-bed military hospital in central Kabul, and security troops were dispatched to the scene, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Qari Saeed Khosty. According to a news agency, which cited a Taliban spokesperson, the first explosion occurred in front of the hospital, while the second occurred in a nearby neighbourhood.
The fatalities were later confirmed by a Taliban security official. Taliban officials have yet to issue a formal statement. More information is awaited.