Gunmen stormed the campus of the American University in Kabul as part of a complex attack on Wednesday night, military officials and local media said.
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A security guard was killed and more than 20 people wounded in the attack that began on Wednesday evening with a large explosion and gunfire. We salute the quick work of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces who responded to the attack and secured the university.
The attackers opened fire and detonated explosives on the campus. According to media reports, there were two assailants who entered the campus after hitting the main gate with a vehicle. “Everyone started screaming”, Samin was quoted as saying. “It was very dark, everyone was running. “(It) was the scariest moment in my life.
Afghanistan-based journalist Bilal Sarwary told CNN that relatives of people still trapped at the university said the militants were throwing grenades and appeared in for the long haul, having brought snacks of Red Bull and dates with them, as well as maps of the campus.
A photographer for The Associated Press who was attending a class on campus at the time told the agency the first explosion he heard was on the southern flank of the university site.
” ‘I went to the window to see what was going on, and I saw a person in normal clothes outside. He shot at me and shattered the glass”, he said.
Hossaini and his 15 fellow students were later able to escape.
Many students took shelter inside classrooms pushing chairs and desks against the door and staying on the floor. The US Embassy in Kabul is collecting the details of the US staff. So dozens if not hundreds of students are inside the university and a number of the buildings there.
Witnesses say they heard explosions and automatic gunfire. “A small number of advisers from the Resolute Support Mission is now assisting Afghan forces as they respond”.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the assault, which comes just weeks after two university professors – an American and an Australian – were kidnapped at gunpoint near the school.
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At least 1,700 students are enrolled in the American University of Afghanistan, which was founded in 2006, and is based on the US university system. It offers several arts courses modeled on the USA system and has about 1700 full-time and part-time students.
