Afghan security personnel stand guard near the site of an attack on the elite American University of Afghanistan in Kabul on August 24, 2016. Some students were crying, others were screaming, ” he said.
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Then came the smoke, fire and confusion.
The attack on the university ended on Thursday, almost 10 hours after militants stormed the complex. “We heard heavy firing”, he recalls. “It was so close we thought they were right behind us”. “I worry every day when my children leave home, but my daughter is a talented student and she wants to help her country”.
The 13 killed included seven students, three policemen, two security guards and a doorman.
No group has claimed responsibility for the campus assault, but its combination of a powerful bomb followed by a commando-style ground assault was typical of previous attacks on foreign and government facilities in Kabul by Taliban insurgents.
Hundreds of students and faculty, including some Americans, were believed to have been on campus at the time.
Earlier this month, two professors were kidnapped from the university at gunpoint.
You said you saw one of the attackers. It was not clear if and when the university would reopen, however. The attackers opened fire and detonated explosives causing panic amongst the students. Others hid inside buildings, a senior State Department official told CNN.
The first blast occurred at 7:50 p.m. local time when students were gathering and eating together.
Civilian casualties hit a record high in the first half of 2016, according to the United Nations, with a particular surge in the number of children killed or wounded.
During the elaborate attack from Wednesday night, the students were attending the evening classes.
After the explosion, I rushed to the place of attack. Quickly, the lights went out in Samin’s classroom.
“It was very dark, (and) everyone was running. “(It) was the scariest moment in my life.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene.
AP photographer Massoud Hossaini said he was in a classroom with 15 students when he heard an explosion.
“Everyone looked around the room looking for an escape”, he said.
The turmoil convulsing Helmand, blighted by a huge opium harvest that helps fund the insurgency, has left thousands of people displaced, sparking a humanitarian crisis as officials report food and water shortages.
“His name was Ahmad Naqib Khpelwak, and he was one of the best teachers”, Daud said.
Sporadic gunfire could be heard through the night, and before dawn, police said the operation had concluded.
“Most of the dead were killed by gun shots near the windows of their classrooms”, Sediqqi said.
The U.S. embassy in Kabul did issue a security message warning U.S. citizens of the attack and advising them to avoid the area until further notice.
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“We do understand there are small numbers of Resolute Support advisers who are assisting their Afghan counterparts as Afghan forces are responding as this situation develops”.
