As many as 19 people were killed and over 50 were injured in an attack on a Kabul Military hospital on Tuesday, claims a health ministry official. The data comes after the Taliban confirmed two blasts and a witness reported gunfire on November 2 in Afghanistan’s one of the biggest military hospitals.
"Nineteen dead bodies and about 50 injured people have been taken to hospitals in Kabul," an unnamed official said.
The explosions occurred at the entrance to the 400-bed Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Qari Saeed Khosty.
Photos shared by citizens' nearby showed a plume of smoke rising from the site of the explosions.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, however, a local news outlet reported witnesses saying a number of Islamic State (IS) fighters entered the hospital and clashed with security
forces.
A hospital staffer who managed to flee said he heard a large explosion followed by a few minutes of gunfire. He said there was a second, larger explosion about ten minutes later.
He said it was uncertain whether the explosions and gunfire occurred inside the massive hospital complex.
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The series of blasts contributes to a growing list of attacks and killings since the Taliban's victory in August.
The Islamic State, which has conducted out a series of attacks on mosques and other targets since the Taliban's takeover of Kabul in August, carried out a complex attack on the 400-bed
hospital in 2017, which killed over 30 people.
The IS attacks have raised concerns about the country becoming a haven for militant groups, as it did when an al Qaeda group attacked the United States in 2001.
The fear has been exacerbated by a deteriorating economic crisis, which has threatened millions with poverty as winter approaches.
The drastic withdrawal of international support following the Taliban victory has pushed Afghanistan's fragile economy to the edge of collapse, just as a severe drought threatens millions of people with starvation.