169-c-09-(Lynne O’Donnell, AP correspondent)-“University in Britain”-AP correspondent Lynne O’Donnell reports the death toll in the attack on American University in Kabul has risen to 13″.
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The attack, apparently the first major militant assault on a prominent university in Afghanistan, has cast a pall on the education sector, seen as a rare symbol of hope for the country’s burgeoning youth at a time of rising insecurity.
Dejan Panic, the program director at Kabul’s Emergency Hospital, said 18 people wounded in the attack, including five women, had been admitted. He injured his ankle making the leap. “Many students jumped from the second floor, some broke their legs and some hurt their head trying to escape”, the student, Abdullah Fahimi, told Reuters. It was very close.
It was praised by senior US officials as a sign of Afghanistan’s bright future, and as such was an obvious symbol of Western ambitions for the country – exactly the kind of symbol the Taliban and other militants have come to pursue as targets.
“We are inside the university conducting search and clearance”, said General Abdul Rahman Rahman, the police chief of Kabul. “The provincial centers are open and will operate normally”.
The attack at American University, a private college in the Afghanistan capital, was reported Wednesday night local time by observers on the ground and news organizations. University authorities could not immediately be reached to comment.
Afghan security forces stand guard after an attack on the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016. The university extends its sympathy to all affected by this despicable attack.
“An Afghan Special Forces Commander tells me: ‘we are moving slowly and carefully. We look forward to being able to continue our important work in service to Afghanistan”.
The attack comes two weeks after two university staff – one American, one Australian – were kidnapped by unknown gunmen. The university closed the evening the professors were abducted, on August 7, and reopened August 10. Our embassy in Kabul, as well as our North Atlantic Treaty Organisation counterparts of the Resolute Support Mission, are closely monitoring the situation as we are. Two attackers were killed.
“The explosion lit up the whole university”, said Mr. Mukhtar, a local reporter and part-time student at the university. Those faculty members have not yet been found.
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul issued a warning that American citizens should stay away from the area, and should consider leaving the country.
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“We are in the process of accounting for all chief of mission personnel and working to locate and assist any USA citizens affected by these attacks”, it said, adding that it had no further information.
