Newborns among 13 killed in Kabul hospital attack

Afghanistan, (Dawn.com), May 12, 2020 -Gunmen attacked a hospital in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Tuesday where the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders runs a maternity clinic, killing 13 people, including two newborn babies, officials said.   
In a separate attack the same day, 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, killing at least 24 people and injuring 68.   

In Kabul, the attack began in the morning when at least three gunmen wearing police uniforms entered the Dasht-e-Barchi hospital, throwing grenades and shooting, government officials said. Fifteen people were wounded in the attack, according to the Ministry of Interior. Security forces had killed the attackers by the afternoon.  

The 100-bed government-run hospital hosted a maternity clinic run by Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French name Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).  

MSF confirmed in a tweet that the hospital had been attacked and staff and patients were being evacuated. Just hours before it had tweeted a photo of a newborn infant at the clinic in his mother’s arms after being delivered safely by emergency caesarean section.