Smoke billows near the Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan National Military Hospital
(Picture: via REUTERS)At least two explosions followed by gunfire hit Afghanistan’s biggest military hospital in Kabul on Tuesday, witnesses and Taliban officials said.
Interior ministry spokesman Qari Saeed Khosty said the blasts had taken place at the entrance of the 400-bed Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan Hospital.
It is not known how many were injured in the explosions or whether there have been any casualties. The humanitarian NGO “Emergency” tweeted that nine injured were taken to its hospital in Kabul.
Security forces have been deployed to the area, Taliban officials confirmed.
The Bakhtar news agency quoted witnesses saying a number of Islamic State (IS) fighters had entered the hospital and clashed with police.
Another witness told Reuters that he had heard a large explosion followed by two minutes of gunfire. Around ten minutes later, there was a second, larger explosion, he said.
Photographs shared by residents showed a huge plume of smoke over the area of the explosions in the Wazir Akbar Khan district.
It comes amid a spate of attacks carried out by Islamic State since the Taliban swept to power in August, undermining the militants’ claim to have restored security to the country.
In 2017, IS militants disguised as medics stormed the same hospital, killing at least 30 people during a six-hour attack.
