Two attacks in Afghanistan on a hospital and a funeral leave 40 dead

An attack on a maternal care hospital in Kabul supported by the NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and a suicide bombing during a funeral in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday left at least 40 people dead and dozens injured, two actions which caused a wave of outrage in the country. The action against the hospital left at least sixteen civilians dead, including two newborns, and around fifteen injured in one of the worst attacks on an MSF health centre since the US bombed by mistake one of its clinics in the north of the country in 2015, killing 42 people.

In the Dasht-e-Barchi district in western Afghanistan's capital, the attack on the hospital began this morning and ended five hours later with the deaths of the three assailants. The Afghan Ministry of Health reported the deaths of sixteen civilians and the same number of injured, in an action that left "most of the administrative and maternity buildings destroyed". "Give us a chance to provide health services to our unfortunate and poor people," the department asked.  

Among the dead were "two newborns, mothers of newborns and midwives, who were shot," Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said in a statement. The rescue of about 100 people, including three foreigners, left images of security forces evacuating newborns in their arms.  

Médecins Sans Frontières confirmed to Efe that the hospital is supported by the organisation. "For the moment, our priority is the safety of our patients and staff, there is no more information at this time," said a worker with the NGO in Kabul, who preferred to remain anonymous. The maternity ward is the only centre for emergencies and complicated deliveries in a neighbourhood of more than one million people, according to MSF's website, after the NGO celebrated the birth of a child this morning on its social networks following a complicated delivery due to problems during pregnancy.  This area is mainly inhabited by members of the Hazara Shiite minority, who are victims of continuous attacks in the country.  

Twenty-four dead at a funeral

Shortly after the assault began in Kabul, a suicide bomber detonated the explosives he was carrying during the funeral of a police commander in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar, a Daesh bastion in Afghanistan until last year. The attack left at least 24 dead and 67 injured, some of whom are in "critical condition," the provincial governor's office said in a statement.  

One of the dead is a member of the provincial council, while a member of parliament from the Wolesi Jirga, as the lower house is known, was injured, Nangarhar governor Attaullah Khogyanai's spokesman told Efe.  

Daesh claimed responsibility for Monday's attack on the funeral of a senior police commander in Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan, in which at least 24 people died, according to an official count. "The soldier of Caliphate Abdullah al-Ansari has managed to reach a group of Afghan security and elements of their allied militias in the area of Khewa, in Nangarhar, where he detonated his explosive vest in their midst," reported the Amaq agency, linked to the jihadists. According to their version, the action caused around 100 deaths and injuries among the ranks of Afghan security forces and friendly "militias". The terrorist group did not comment on the other attack on Monday in Kabul on a maternity hospital, which ended five hours after it began with the death of 16 civilians, the death of the three assailants and significant material damage to the medical centre, supported by Médecins Sans Frontières. 

The Taliban had already disassociated themselves from both attacks, immediately turning to the social network Twitter to distance themselves from the two actions, when a controversial prisoner exchange took place between the insurgent force and the government that is seen as a step towards intra-Afghan peace negotiations.  

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned "in the strongest possible terms" these attacks, during a speech to the nation in which he stressed that once again civilians are the main victims of this "imposed war". But far from limiting his speech to lamentations, Ghani announced that Afghan security forces are no longer on the defensive, as was decided in the framework of the Doha agreement between the United States and the Taliban on February 29. "For the defense of the country, the safety and security of people and national infrastructure, and to repel and thwart attacks and threats from the Taliban and other terrorist groups, I order the country's Defense and Security Forces to return to the offensive mode," the Afghan president said forcefully.  

The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) also expressed its "disgust at today's terrorist attacks". Amnesty International denounced the "unacceptable war crimes in Afghanistan today". "The perpetrators of these serious crimes must be held accountable and civilians must be protected," the organization said.