At Least 13 Killed In Attack On American University In Kabul
Kabul in Afghanistan. Photo Wikimedia Commons.
KABUL — At least 13 people, including seven students, were killed during a 10-hour assault by gunmen on the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul.
The attack began on August 24 with a large explosion that officials said was a car bomb followed by gunfire as the suspected militants breached the walls of the complex. Hundreds of students and faculty members were trapped inside the university during the attack.
Afghan special forces, with help from U.S. and NATO military advisers, surrounded the walled compound and eventually worked their way inside. After a night of sporadic gunfire, officials said the forces killed at least two gunmen and ended the assault in the early hours of August 25.
Reports said the dead also included three police officers, two university guards, and a teacher. Dozens were wounded and taken to hospitals. Some 35 students and nine police were injured and about 750 students and staff were rescued from the university.
The Afghan Public Health Ministry said no foreigners were reported among the wounded.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes as fundamentalist Taliban militants step up their summer fighting season against the central government.
Roman Dehsabzwal, who was inside a second-floor classroom when the assault began, told RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan that he believed an attacker blew himself up just outside a building and then others began entering.
Full story: rferl.org
Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
