ISIS takes responsibility for deadly attack on Kabul hospital that killed 25, wounded 50

Boy, injured during a blast, lies on stretcher at the entrance of a hospital in Kabul (Photo: Reuters)

Kabul: The Islamic State has taken the responsibility for the deadly attack on a hospital in the Afghan capital of Kabul which killed at least 25 people and injured more than a dozen on Tuesday.

The attack was carried out by armed gunmen and at least one suicide bomber. 

The terrorists targetted the 400-bed Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan military hospital in one of Kabul`s more affluent neighbourhoods.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said the attack was carried out by several members of the Islamic State, including a suicide bomber who detonated his explosives at the gate to the hospital.

A car full of explosives outside the hospital also exploded, wounding dozens, and several Taliban fighters were killed and wounded in the ensuing gun battle, Mujahid said.

The Islamic State Khorasan, also known as ISIS-K, took responsibility for the attack hours later.

One of those killed was Mawlawi Hamdullah Rahmani, a senior commander responsible for the Taliban`s Kabul corps and one of the first Talibs to enter the presidential palace after the government collapsed in August, said Wahidullah Hashimi, a Taliban government official.

The security situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated significantly since the Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15. ISIS has carried out several attacks including an attack on Kabul Airport during an evacuation by the US forces following the fall of Kabul.

The Taliban`s struggle to bring stability to Afghanistan has been dogged by a series of bloody assaults by ISIS-K.