Nineteen people were killed in the attack as claimed by Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) (File)
Kabul:
Just months after the Taliban took office in Kabul and promised to restore peace in Afghanistan, many Afghans still fear an invisible enemy: the Islamic State.
The local chapter of the jihadist group is copying the same tactics the Taliban have used so far to successfully destabilize the US-backed government, including bombings against symbolic targets.
“The Taliban called us infidels. Now, those who call them infidels are killing them,” said a shopkeeper near the scene of the latest massacre – a gun and suicide bombing attack on a military hospital on Tuesday.
“And they have no chance of winning this war,” he told AFP.
The day after the attack, a sweeper passed with a hose to wipe the blood off the sidewalk and a Taliban fighter pointed to his Kalashnikov where the human remains were hanging from the perimeter razor wire.
Nineteen people were killed in the attack as claimed by Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), the group’s local chapter.
The operation gave the Taliban a chance to launch their feared Badri Special Forces and deploy a team from a helicopter in a display of force as they confronted a terrorist attack squad.
But the commander of the force, Kabul’s security chief Hamdullah Mokhlis, and at least three Taliban were killed fighting fellow militants.
A member of the hospital’s medical staff said they had warned the Taliban to manage traffic outside the building, which had been targeted earlier.
“They didn’t listen to us,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“They don’t know how to handle the situation. Four cars caught fire after the second explosion. They didn’t even think of calling the firemen. We had to do it ourselves. They don’t have the number.”
The hospital was last attacked in 2017 in another operation claimed by IS-K. In the encounter that lasted for six hours, the militants went from room to room killing the patients.
A doctor said that the Islamic State is the Taliban, but even worse.
“I can’t tell the difference between them. They have the same facial hair, the same clothes. To me they are two donkey ears.”
motorcycle bomber
For some, IS-K is more lethal than the Taliban when they were fighting for control. They see a more sophisticated strategy, with multiple bombings and more complex tactics.
On Tuesday, a motorcycle suicide bomber hit the main entrance of the hospital and gunmen followed him.
As Taliban special forces were arriving at the scene 20 minutes later, a car bomb – which eyewitnesses say looked like a taxi – exploded.
“I’ve seen this all before, same exact strategy,” said another doctor.
“I know these tricks so well that, after the first explosion, when I saw people lying wounded, I still knew I couldn’t go to treat them, because the second explosion would soon happen, and it happened. “
Security was tightened a day after the blasts. Heavily armed Taliban patrols in pickup trucks captured from former US-backed security forces flocked to the area.
Cars were stopped and searched, papers checked.
Hazrat Noor, a farmer from Jozzan province who had come to the capital for treatment, was delighted with the Taliban’s victory and vowed that “he will never feel safe in 40 years”.
Taliban guard Mohammad Torbi, leader on a cordon near the hospital, said his men could recognize IS-K fighters “because they are different, they are strangers, with different accents and behaviour”.
“This time they arrived in military clothes,” he said.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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