Deaths and Injuries as Explosions and Gunfire Rock Kabul

By Al Mayadeen

An eyewitness reports that a suicide bomber attack occurred, followed by gunfire near a military hospital adjacent to the Ministry of Public Health building in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Eyewitnesses confirmed today, Tuesday, that an explosion occurred near a military hospital adjacent to the Ministry of Public Health building in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The explosions occurred near the entrance of the 400-bed Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital in central Kabul. Security troops were dispatched to the scene, Interior Ministry spokesman Qari Saeed Khosty stated.

A health ministry official confirmed that 23 people were killed and at least 50 wounded in the attack on the Kabul hospital. Eyewitnesses reported that the explosion was carried out by a suicide bomber, followed by a shooting in the vicinity of the blast site.

Khosty pointed out that the explosion resulted in casualties, without revealing additional details.

According to Reuters, there was no immediate claim of responsibility. However, sources told Bakhtar News Agency that a group of ISIS gunmen entered the hospital and attacked security forces.

WSJ: Former US-backed Afghan army members join ISIS

Earlier, the US-based newspaper, the Wall Street Journal, reported that "Some former members of US-trained intelligence service and elite military units—now abandoned by their American patrons and hunted by the Taliban—have enlisted in the only force currently challenging the country’s new rulers: Islamic State."

These members enlist in ISIS' rank to escape the revenge of the Taliban movement, according to the WSJ, because the Khorasan Organization, the local branch of ISIS, is the only alternative available now.