Gunmen who stormed Afghan hospital deliberately targeted mothers, doctors say

Gunmen who killed 24 people after storming a Kabul hospital had set out to 'kill the mothers', according to medical charity Doctors Without Borders

An Afghan mother feeds a newborn baby who survived Tuesday's attack on a Kabul hospital by gunmen which left 24 people dead. Source: Anadolu

Gunmen who stormed a hospital in the Afghan capital this week had come to "kill the mothers" at the maternity ward, medical charity Doctors Without Borders has said.

 

At least 24 people were killed - including newborns, mothers and nurses - when three armed men rampaged through the maternity ward of the hospital in Kabul on Tuesday, in an attack that sparked international outrage.

 

The United States later said the deadly assault was carried out by the Islamic State group.

 

"What I saw in the maternity hospital demonstrates it was a systematic shooting of the mothers," said Doctors Without Borders boss Frederic Bonnot after visiting the hospital. 

 

"They went through the rooms in the maternity, shooting women in their beds. It was methodical.

 

"Walls sprayed with bullets, blood on the floors in the rooms, vehicles burnt out and windows shot through," he said in a statement.

An Afghan mother feeds a newborn baby who survived an attack on the maternity ward of a Kabul hospital Source: Anadolu

Doctors Without Borders, which runs the maternity ward, said at the time of the attack 26 mothers were being cared for at the Barchi National Hospital in west Kabul.

 

Eleven were killed, including three in the delivery room with their newborn babies while five others were wounded.

 

Ten others found shelter in safe rooms.

 

The assailants who entered the facility through the main gate moved straight to the maternity ward, Doctors Without Borders said.

When the attack began, shooting and explosions could be heard from the safe room where several had taken refuge, said Mr Bonnot.

 

"They came to kill the mothers," he said.

 

"This country is sadly used to seeing horrific events. But what happened Tuesday is beyond words."

 

Officials said there were three attackers who were eventually killed in a lengthy clearance operation.

Heavily armed security forces were seen carrying infants - at least one wrapped in a blood-soaked blanket.

 

Islamic State has not claimed the attack but US Special Representative to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said it was carried out by the Afghan branch of the group.

 

The Islamic State group "opposes a peace agreement between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban, and seeks to encourage sectarian war as in Iraq and Syria," Mr Khalilzad wrote on Twitter.

 

The Taliban has denied any involvement in the onslaught.

 

In another attack on Tuesday in the country's east, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a funeral, killing at least 32 mourners, with IS later claiming responsibility.