KABUL, July 28, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Several gunmen stormed a midwife training
centre in an ongoing attack in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday that has left
at least three people wounded, officials said, as plumes of smoke were seen
rising above the compound.
Afghan security forces have stormed the centre in Jalalabad, the capital
of Nangarhar province, and gunfire could be heard from inside, witnesses and
officials told AFP.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attack, but
most of the recent assaults in the city have been carried out by the Islamic
State group, which has a stronghold in Nangarhar.
“The Afghan security forces have cordoned off the area and… launched an
operation to gun down the attackers,” provincial governor spokesman Attaullah
Khogyani said.
Several midwives have been rescued, he added.
Provincial health department spokesman Inamullah Miakhil confirmed its
midwife centre had been attacked.
Three wounded civilians have been taken to hospital, Khogyani said.
A witness in a nearby department told AFP he heard several explosions and
then saw three gunmen enter the street where the midwife centre is located.
Some of the security forces appeared to be dismantling improvised
explosive devices apparently planted in the street by the militants, a
witness told AFP.
Jalalabad has been the scene of several attacks in recent months that have
killed dozens, as US and Afghan forces continue offensive operations against
IS and Taliban militants.
– Health workers a target –
Government buildings are a common target for insurgents, including
hospitals and medical facilities.
While it is not known why the gunmen targeted the midwife training centre,
midwives have been attacked in the past for providing reproductive health
services to women.
Islamist groups — and many ordinary Afghans — also oppose women working
outside the home.
While thousands of women have been trained as midwives since the 2001 US-
led invasion, Afghanistan still has one of the highest maternal and child
mortality rates in the world.
The last major attack in Jalalabad happened on July 11 when gunmen raided
an education department compound in the city, sparking an hours-long battle
with security forces.
At least 11 people were killed in the attack. All were employees of the
education department branch and included the director.
A suicide bomb attack claimed by IS on a crowd of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus
in Jalalabad on July 1 killed at least 19 people and wounded 21.
The Taliban is Afghanistan’s largest militant group and IS has a
relatively small but potent presence, mainly in the east and north of the
country.
It first emerged in Afghanistan in 2014 and quickly established a
stronghold in Nangarhar.
Intensified aerial and ground operations against the militants have failed
to dislodge them.
An unprecedented three-day ceasefire involving Afghan security forces and
the Taliban last month did not include IS.
The first formal nationwide truce since 2001 was marred by two IS suicide
attacks in Nangarhar.
While the Afghan government and its foreign backers are seeking to strike
a peace deal with the Taliban, US forces have repeatedly said they plan to
annihilate IS.