Seven students, three policemen and two security guards were killed in the attack on the American University campus, Basir Mujahid, the spokesman said.
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New York Times reporter Mujib Masah quoted a police officer at the scene as saying a auto bomb had been detonated in front of a school for the blind, which is next to the American University, attackers then entered that school, and fired at the American University from there.
Afghan security forces have ended an attack on the American University of Afghanistan that left at least 12 people dead and more than 30 wounded, Afghan officials said early Thursday.
“I heard explosions and gunfire is going on close by. our classroom is filled with smoke and dust”, an anxious student told AFP by telephone, before fleeing the campus.
Gunmen tried to storm the American University of Afghanistan here Wednesday evening after setting off a powerful explosion nearby, sending panicked students at evening classes scrambling for safety on the highly guarded campus in the Afghan capital. He said it was still not clear if there were one or two attackers.
Two attackers were also shot dead by security forces almost 10 hours after the assault began with an explosion on Wednesday evening.
The American University of Afghanistan has about 1,000 students studying various subjects at the bachelor and master’s level.
Mujib Mashal, a writer for The New York Times, said on Twitter that police said a vehicle bomb exploded.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on the campus.
More than 150 students who had been trapped in university buildings were rescued by special police units. Then they heard explosions and automatic gunfire.
The U.S. Department of State advises U.S. citizens against travel to Afghanistan due to the “continued instability and threats by terrorist organizations against U.S. citizens”.
“We strongly condemn the attack on American University in Kabul”, the Prime Minister tweeted. Later, the photographer was able to escape the attack along with nine other students through an emergency gate.
” ‘As we were running I saw someone lying on the ground face down, they looked like they had been shot in the back, ‘ he said”.
It comes less than three weeks after the school was forced to suspend campus operations after two teachers – an American and Australian – were kidnapped at gunpoint.
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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”. Their whereabouts are still unknown.
