19 dead in Kabul explosions, gunfire at military hospital


New Delhi:
At least 19 people were killed and 43 wounded when two explosions followed by gunfire hit Afghanistan’s biggest military hospital in the capital Kabul, Al Jazeera reported.

The sound of gunfire was also heard near the Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan military hospital in the Afghan capital, according to witnesses and a government spokesperson.

Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman of the Islamic Emirate, told reporters that at least two blasts took place at the entrance of the 400-bed hospital in Kabul’s 10th district. Witnesses told Al Jazeera it was a car bomb.

Photographs shared by residents showed a plume of smoke after the blasts in the former diplomatic zone in the Wazir Akbar Khan area in central Kabul.

Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate, said the first explosion occurred in front of the Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital.

According to Karimi, the second explosion also occurred in an area close to the hospital.

Gunfire has also been heard from the blast area, Tolo News reported. Saeed Khosti, spokesman of the Interior Ministry, said one of the explosions occurred at the entrance of the hospital.

According to Khosti, the explosions have caused casualties but so far the exact details are not known.

He said security forces have arrived at the scene.

Ambulances were carrying injured people to hospitals from the area, Tolo News reported.