19 killed, 43 injured in Kabul blasts

Two powerful explosions and the sound of gunfire were heard near the Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan military hospital in the Afghan capital Kabul on Tuesday, according to witnesses and a government spokesperson.

Reports suggest that the blast near the Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital occurred at around 13:00 local time (8:30 GMT), Sputnik reported. 

“A suicide bomb attack took place in a 400-bed hospital next to the Ministry of Public Health”, the eyewitness said, adding that shots were fired after the blast.

Later, witnesses told that another blast had been heard in the area.

Bilal Karimi, the deputy spokesman of the Taliban, told reporters that at least two blasts took place at the entrance of the 400-bed hospital in Kabul’s 10th district. Witnesses told Al-Jazeera it was a car bomb.

“Security forces are deployed to the area, there is no information about casualties,” he said on Twitter.

Saeed Khosty, interior ministry spokesman confirmed that there were casualties as a result of the blasts, but it was not immediately clear how many.

Later, an interior ministry source said that at least 19 people were killed and 43 wounded.

Photographs shared by residents showed a plume of smoke over the area of the blasts near the former diplomatic zone in the Wazir Akbar Khan area of the city and witnesses said at least two helicopters were flying over the area.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.