Attackers bomb Afghan hospital

Taliban officials blame Islamic State (IS) militants for two explosions at the Sardar Mohammad Dawood Khan Military hospital in Kabul on Tuesday. The first blast happened at the hospital’s entrance. Taliban security forces then returned fire against the militants. Taliban officials and spokespersons have given different numbers of people killed, ranging from seven to 20.

Who are the attackers? The Afghan affiliate of Islamic State, which carried out recent mosque bombings, had not claimed responsibility for the attack by midday Tuesday. Witnesses told the Daily Mail that the attackers forced their way into the hospital and went room to room shooting patients, including in the children’s ward. But a spokesman said no patients were injured in the hospital. City residents said they heard a second explosion near the hospital and gunfire.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about a suicide bomb attack on a mosque during worship last month.