After Getting Shot Twice In The Leg, Newborn Survives The Devastating Kabul Attack

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Kabul witnessed a devastating tragedy after three gunmen, suspected to be members of terror group ISIS, attacked a maternity unit in the city, killing 24 people including mothers, nurses and newborns.

Surviving this tragic incident is a newborn baby who was shot twice in the leg, as reported by The Times.

The Times

The attackers entered the building in the Afghan capital disguised as police officers. They threw grenades and opened fire which led to the death of many including two newborn babies.

15 men, women and children were reportedly injured and the attackers were shot dead.

The baby who survived the double gunshot wounds was born just three hours before the attack but unfortunately, her mother died in the attack. The baby's father Rafiullah named her Nazia, after her late mother.

After getting shot in the leg, Nazia has a fracture. A director at the Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital in Kabul, Dr Noor ul-Haq Yousafzai, told the Times, "We set Nazia's fracture, so she will be able to walk when she grows up. But to see a newborn baby, just three hours old, shot twice. Everyone is shocked. This is inhuman."

AP

After the attack on the Doctors Without Borders maternity unit, an Afghan mother has come forward to breastfeed 20 of the newborn babies who survived the attack. The woman named Feroza Younis Omar said, "All of us have been damaged by criminals who are destroying humanity in Afghanistan. I am one of those."

Security forces intervened which led to the gunmen getting shot dead, during a shootout which lasted several hours.

A clearance operation was then carried out by the armed Afghan security forces and babies covered in blood-soaked blankets were rescued from the scene.

AFP

One of the surviving mothers named Khadija, revealed that the gunmen stormed the maternity unit just hours after she had given birth and she hid under a table hugging her newborn son to save them both. She mentioned how the intensive care unit was filled with smoke and bullets. Luckily, both she and her baby survived the attack.

AFP

Till now, no terror group has come forward to claim responsibility for the attack but President Ashraf Ghani strongly believes that the Taliban and the Islamic State are to be blamed. He singled out ISIS, and the military has been ordered to switch their tactics from 'defensive to offensive'.

On the other hand, the Taliban has reciprocated saying that they are fully prepared to take down the Afghan forces.

At least twenty newborn babies were later transferred to Ataturk Hospital in the Kabul and families are awaiting to find out what will happen to their children.

AFP

There are no words left to describe how tragic this incident is and people responsible for the same should not have a moment of peace in their lives.