At least 25 people were killed and more than 50 were wounded in Afghanistan when terrorists of the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) stormed the 400-bed Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital in Kabul on Tuesday afternoon. This is the main military hospital of Afghanistan where the injured terrorists of the Taliban are being treated besides veterans of the former Afghanistan military.
Mawlawi Hamdullah Mukhlis is among the major casualty who is said to have died in this attack. Mukhlis was the head of the Kabul military corps and one of the first senior Taliban commanders to enter the abandoned presidential palace when the Taliban captured Kabul in mid of August this year.
Taliban sources further say that Mawlawi Hamdullah Mukhlis wasn’t present at the hospital when the attack began but he reached there shortly after the first explosion. He engaged ISKP attackers in gunfight and was killed during the clash. #Kabul https://t.co/kd487r37hd
— FJ (@Natsecjeff) November 2, 2021
But Afghanistan-based journalist Natiq Malikzada, however, claimed that the clash continued for hours killing as many as 38 people and leaving 83 injured.
Update on casualties for today’s attack on Dauod Khan Military Hospital:
— Natiq Malikzada (@natiqmalikzada) November 2, 2021
Two suicide bombers and hours of clash inside the hospital killed 38 people and injured 83 others. A number of the injured are in critical condition and the death toll could rise.#Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/1ZHPbOvOUA
He said that such a series of attacks have again started a fresh exodus of Afghanis from the Taliban Islamic Emirates as it has left people feared.
According to Reuters, the chief spokesman of Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahid has claimed that the attack was executed by five terrorists of Islamic State who were killed later on. Qari Saeed Khosty, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, confirmed on Twitter about the attack.
حمله داعشیها بر شفاخانه ۴۰۰ بستر ناکام شد. ۵ تن داعشی از بین رفتندhttps://t.co/BHYqbxoYgt pic.twitter.com/HZMvJDv0DD
— Zabihullah (..ذبـــــیح الله م ) (@Zabehulah_M33) November 2, 2021
Islamic State in a statement on its Telegram channels has taken responsibility for the attack stating that “five Islamic State group fighters carried out simultaneous coordinated attacks” on the hospital. However, there is no clarity on the number of assailants who were killed or captured as another Taliban spokesperson Bilal Karimi claimed that one gunman was captured alive by the Taliban force.
The attack started with two powerful explosions on the entrance of the hospital followed by gun battle killing and wounding Taliban fighters. The New York Times said that a suicide bomber had detonated himself at the gate to the hospital, besides, an explosive-laden car also detonated outside the hospital. In the recent week, the Islamic State has intensified its attack on Taliban and Shiite minority of Afghanistan. Islamic State had attacked this hospital in 2017 also when more than 30 people were killed and 50 others wounded when armed terrorists stormed the building.
However, the Taliban claimed it immediately responded to the attack as the special force was airdropped onto the roof of the hospital from one of the helicopters that the Taliban had seized from Afghanistan’s former US-backed government. It claimed that the special force prevented a further attack that could have been quite major.
Afghanistan drifted to anarchy after the Islamic terrorist outfit Taliban took over Kabul and unseated Ashraf Gani government in mid-August this year. The USA forces which were backing the Afghanistan government also withdrew, which further aggravated the situation. Now after the exit of the USA-backed Afghanistan government, the Taliban and the Islamic State are locked in a battle.
Who are the Islamic State -Khorasan?
Islamic State Khorasan Province formed in January 2015 is the regional affiliate of the Islamic State group. And like the Taliban, it is known for extreme violence and jihad. Its members are both Afghan and Pakistani nationals and especially those who defected from the Taliban. Khorasan region covers parts of modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan.
After the fall of Kabul, Islamic State has intensified its attack in Afghanistan. In August, this outfit carried an attack near the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul killing at least 103 persons including 13 US service members. In October it had attacked a Shia mosque in Kunduz that killed 100.
