Amidst the Islamic holy month of Ramzan when pious Muslims across the world observe dawn-to-dusk fasting, the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, was rocked with two separate terror attacks, with one of them being carried out on a medical facility in the Shiite-populated area of the capital.
Terrorists who swore allegiance to the Islamic State stormed the maternity hospital in the western part of the Afghan capital Kabul and killed 16 people including 2 newborn babies, their mothers and several nurses. According to the reports, three armed terrorists entered the 100-bed facility, run by Medicins Sans Frontiers, before hours long fierce gun-fight ensued between the terrorists and the police. The terrorists were eventually neutralised by the police force.
ISIS claims responsibility for mass shooting of a maternity hospital and funeral in Kabul, Afghanistan 🇦🇫
— Khaled Beydoun (@KhaledBeydoun) May 13, 2020
Babies among the 40 people killed. On #Ramadan no less.
A horrific reminder that ** 98% of ISIS victims** are Muslims. Prayers with #Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/ay48f0Trkz
The spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Tariq Aryan, condemned the despicable attack by ISIS terrorists that claimed lives of 16 civilians, including 2 infants, saying that the raid at a medical facility is a crime against humanity and international law.
In the second strike, at least 24 people were killed and dozens more wounded in a suicide attack on a funeral procession in a district of eastern Nangarhar province. The ISIS claimed the responsibility for the attack during the last rites of a local police chief which was attended by lawmakers and provincial council members. Besides, 24 killed, about 60 people were wounded in the suicide bomb blast attack.
As per Mohammad Omar, a member of the provincial council, the target of the attack could have likely been Lala Khan, a former council member, who had close ties with US intelligence and was believed to have coordinated its military operations against Al-Qaeda and Daesh affiliates. Khan and two of his brothers were killed in the attack, he added.
Islamic terrorists use Ramazan to call for terror attacks
The attack comes in the midst of Ramzan, a month of strict spiritual discipline to celebrate the first revelation of the Holy Quran to Prophet Muhammad. While the festival claims to mark the period for repentance, self-reflection and spiritual, it is often used by the Islamic terror organisations, especially ISIS, as an occasion to ramp up their nefarious activities.
In a bid to attract fresh blood to fight ‘Jihad’ waged by the ISIS, the month of Ramzan witnesses heightened activities by terrorists, usually by tickling the latent fundamentalist tendencies among the believers and indoctrinating them into carrying out attacks against what they perceive as “oppressors” and “infidels”. In 2016, ISIS spokesman had said, “Make Ramadan, with God’s permission, a month of pain for infidels everywhere.” A year later, in 2017, an audio message purportedly belonging to the Islamic State called for an increase in the terror activities during the month of Ramzan. The speaker in the audio precisely asks ISIS followers to “charge against the rejectionists and the apostates and fight them with the strength of one man.”
