Militants attack Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan

Militants attacked a hospital in Afghanistan supported by Doctors Without Borders on Tuesday, killing two newborn babies and at least 11 other people, NBC News reported, citing Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry. 

Officials said 15 others were injured in the attack at the Dasht-e-Barchi Hospital in Kabul, according to the network. 

Afghan special forces took control of the hospital away from the militants, killing at least three attackers, and at least 100 people were evacuated from the hospital, NBC noted, adding that the Taliban denied responsibility for the attack. 

The U.S. charge d’affaires to Afghanistan, Ross Wilson, condemned the attack on Twitter. 

“I deplore this barbaric attack & condemn the evil terrorists who target those who cannot defend themselves and who are already suffering. Hospitals are centers of compassion with dedicated Afghan and @MSF_Afghanistan staff caring for innocent civilians,” Wilson tweeted. 

Doctors Without Borders runs a maternity service in the public hospital, according to the organization’s website. 

“We are aware of the ongoing attack on the MSF-supported Dasht-e-Barchi hospital in Kabul. The Afghan Special Forces are at the scene. For now, our priority is the safety of our patients and staff,” a spokeswoman for the organization told NBC in an email. 

In a separate attack in Afghanistan on the same day, at least 24 people were killed and 68 were injured during a bombing, Reuters reports. A suicide bomber struck the funeral of a police commander attended by government officials and a member of parliament in the eastern province of Nangahar, according to the news service. 

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either attack, it added.