Afghani special police helped quell an armed attack on American University Kabul, but at least 10 people died and many more are wounded. It began when one assailant detonated a vehicle bomb outside of the university, which was founded in 2006, during evening classes. University President Mark English told The Associated Press that security forces had arrived on the scene soon after the attack began around 7 pm.
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Reports from AP suggest that the students had locked themselves in the classroom, pushing chairs and tables against the doors and windows. “He shot at me and shattered the glass”, Hossaini said.
“We are stuck inside our classroom and there are bursts of gunfire”, he said. “They are inside the compound and there are foreign professors along with hundreds of students”.
Although no group or individual has claimed of responsibility for the deadly attack, officials have put finger at the enemies of Afghanistan, a reference to the Taliban.
The attack came after two professors at the university – an American and Australian – were kidnapped in the heart of the capital earlier this month, the latest in a series of abductions of foreigners in the conflict-torn country. Spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said the department is accounting for its personnel and working to locate and assist US citizens affected by the attack.
The Taliban have also seized large areas of the northern province of Kunduz – where militants briefly seized the provincial capital, Kunduz city, last year in their biggest military victory in the past 15 years – leaving Afghan forces stretched on multiple fronts.
“Many students jumped from the second floor, some broke their legs and some hurt their head trying to escape”, said Abdullah Fahimi, a student who injured his ankle making the leap.
Amid black smoke, he took off running with the students and other faculty, and “the smoke entered my mouth” as he fled, he said.
Police had described the attack, which began at about 19:00 local time (14:30 GMT), as “complex”. The American University was established in 2006 to offer liberal arts courses modeled on the United States system.
Student Freshta Ibrahimi told NPR that she was eating dinner with friends on campus when explosions and gunfire rang out.
“We send our thoughts and prayers to the families of those killed and our heartfelt wishes for a speedy recovery to those wounded”, the US National Security Council said in a statement, strongly condemning the attack. A report issued in 2015 said that the university at that point enrolled 1,151 students in degree programs and 934 students in professional development certificate programs, and employed global faculty and staff from 15 countries.
The school opened in 2006.
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Officials say the attack started around 7 p.m. local time when a auto stocked with explosives was detonated in front of the university’s security wall. The U.S. State Department condemned the attack, calling it an attack on the future of Afghanistan. It was the IS Afghan branch’s first assault in Kabul and the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since the USA -led invasion to oust the Taliban regime in 2001.
