A comment I wrote at the Washington Post.

"the extremist Islamic State"

Islam has millions of these lunatics.

"a suicide bomber"

Muslims like to blow themselves up.

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Gunmen storm Kabul maternity ward, killing 13, including 2 newborns

By Sharif Hassan

May 12, 2020

KABUL — Gunmen set off an explosion at the entrance of one of Kabul's busiest hospitals on Tuesday before storming the building, which includes a maternity ward, killing 13, including two newborns.

The attackers battled for hours with Afghan security forces and, according to the Interior Minister, the rest of the slain were nurses and mothers. Some 15 others were injured. The hospital is one of the busiest in western Kabul and houses a maternity ward run by Doctors Without Borders.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the assault, it echoes earlier attacks on civilian targets carried out by the extremist Islamic State group. In March gunmen stormed a Sikh temple killing 25 and earlier that month shooters killed 32 at an ethnic Hazara and Shiite gathering.

Taliban attacks in Afghanistan surge after U.S. peace deal, inflicting heavy casualties

Photos and videos from the scene circulating on social media show police forces carrying newborns to emergency medical teams nearby. One photo shows a woman lying on her back crumpled up against a hospital room wall, a small baby lying in her arms.

Health officials said the hospital’s maternity health program is one of the most well respected in Kabul, providing services to thousands of women every month.

Ministry of Interior spokesman Tariq Arian called the attack a “crime against all values.” And he said, “any group that are involved in such attacks are against all human and Islamic values.”

The chair of Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission, Shaharzad Akbar, condemned the brutality of an attack targeting newborn babies. She wrote in a tweet, “among their first experiences, [is] being targeted in a war they & their mothers had no part in.”

Also Tuesday, a suicide bomber attacked a funeral ceremony of a police officer in eastern Afghanistan. The explosion killed 15 and wounded 56 according to the provincial governor’s office.

The Taliban denied responsible for both attacks Tuesday.

ISIS attack in Kabul leaves 32 dead, more than 80 wounded

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