Metro
Senior Taliban commander killed in hospital attack
A Taliban military commander was killed when his men responded to an Islamic State suicide bomb and gun attack on a hospital in the Afghan capital, officials said Wednesday.
The Taliban spent 20 years waging an insurgency against the ousted US-backed government before seizing control of Kabul in August.
Now they face the struggle of bringing stability to Afghanistan, which has been hit in recent weeks by a series of bloody assaults claimed by rivals, the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K).
At least 19 people were killed in Tuesday’s attack on Kabul’s main military hospital, according to a health ministry official who did not want to be named.
Hamdullah Mokhlis, a member of the hardline Haqqani network and an officer in the Badri Corps special forces, is the most senior figure to have been killed since the Taliban seized Kabul.
“When he got the information that Sardar Daud Khan Hospital was under attack, Maulvi Hamdullah (Mokhlis), the commander of the Kabul corps, immediately rushed to the scene,” the Taliban media official said.
“We tried to stop him but he laughed. Later we found out that he was martyred in the face-to-face fight at the hospital,” he added.
The attack began with a suicide bomber detonating his explosives near the facility’s entrance before gunmen broke into the hospital grounds.
As part of the response, Kabul’s new rulers deployed their special forces to the roof of the building in a helicopter captured from Afghanistan’s former US-backed government.
In a statement released on its Telegram channels, IS-K said that “five Islamic State group fighters carried out simultaneous coordinated attacks” on the site.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid played down the death toll and said the attack was put down within 15 minutes thanks to the rapid intervention.
‘Our Lives Were Ending’
File photo: Taliban fighters atop vehicles with Taliban flags parade along a road to celebrate after the US pulled all its troops out of Afghanistan, in Kandahar on September 1, 2021, following the Talibans military takeover of the country. (Photo by JAVED TANVEER / AFP)
Although both IS and the Taliban are hardline Sunni Islamist militants, they differ on details of religion and strategy.
IS have claimed four mass casualty attacks since the Taliban takeover on August 15, including suicide bomb blasts targeting Shiite Muslim mosques. The group regards Shiite Muslims as heretics.
The hospital, which treats wounded soldiers from both the Taliban and former Afghan security forces, was previously attacked in 2017, when gunmen disguised as medical personnel killed at least 30 people in an hours-long siege.
The 2017 attack was also claimed by the Islamic State group, and the Taliban denied responsibility.
Witnesses on Tuesday described to AFP a scene of terror, as patients and doctors tried to lock themselves in upper-storey rooms and gunfire erupted.
One woman who had been trapped in the hospital when the attack began told AFP how she and her friend “felt we were going to die, that our lives were ending”.
“There was a blast at the door,” Rowana Dawari, a poet and lecturer, told AFP.
“Daesh came and started firing, we were stuck. We heard firing, glass breaking. We locked ourselves in a bathroom,” she said, referring to IS by its local name.
“Later, Taliban came and we saw they were with our doctors, so we knew it was OK.”
Suspected kidnappers on Wednesday night shot a tomato farmer, Daniel Adesida, and abducted his wife during an attack on their residence along Oda Road in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
The incident reportedly occurred around 8:45 p.m., when the gunmen invaded the residence and attempted to whisk away the farmer’s wife.
Sources said Adesida sustained a gunshot injury to his right hand while trying to resist the attackers, who eventually escaped with his wife.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Ondo State Command, Abayomi Jimoh, said police operatives swiftly responded after receiving a distress call.
According to him, officers mobilised to the scene, rescued the injured victim and ensured he received medical attention.
“Upon receiving the distress call, police operatives swiftly mobilised to the scene, ensured the injured victim was rescued and taken to the police clinic for medical attention, and secured the area,” Jimoh said.
He added that the Commissioner of Police in the state, Adebowale Lawal, had ordered an immediate manhunt for the fleeing suspects.
“The Commissioner of Police has ordered intensified patrols, bush combing operations and intelligence gathering within the affected area and adjoining communities with a view to apprehending the fleeing suspects,” he stated.
Jimoh assured residents that efforts were ongoing to rescue the abducted woman and bring the perpetrators to justice.
He also urged members of the public to remain vigilant and promptly report suspicious movements or individuals to the nearest police station.
Three workers of a concrete block factory were on Friday morning abducted in the Olojuoro area of Oluyole Local Government Area, Oyo State.
The victims were said to be staff of a concrete block industry owned by Prince Jelili Oyetunde, located within the council area.
Sources told our correspondent that the workers — identified as Adekola Muidini Asanti, Yinka and Saheed — were kidnapped at gunpoint inside a nearby canteen where they had gone to take breakfast before resuming work for the day.
Speaking with journalists on Saturday, the factory owner, Prince Oyetunde, said Closed Circuit Television footage captured the moment the assailants carried out the abduction.
He alleged that the suspected abductors are Baale Alimi Yusuf, Tunde Lawal, Saheed Olawoyin, Ibrahim Shittu and Sule Adigun.
Oyetunde further alleged that one of the suspects carted away a bag belonging to the factory manager during the operation.
He added that both he and the suspected abductors were scheduled to appear before the Oyo State Anti-Land Grabbing Agency next Wednesday, March 4, over a related dispute.
The businessman disclosed that the incident had been reported to the police.
According to him, the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Sanyo Police Station confirmed that the abductors allegedly took the victims to the station and were instructed to release them.
He, however, lamented that the whereabouts of the workers had remained unknown since they reportedly left the station.
“We have visited police stations within Oluyole Local Government and made announcements on different radio stations, but as of this morning, their whereabouts remain unknown,” Oyetunde said.
The Nigeria Union of Journalists has been thrown into mourning following the death of seven journalists in a fatal road accident in Gombe State.
The journalists reportedly died on Monday while returning from the wedding ceremony of a colleague held in Kaltungo Local Government Area of the state.
Findings revealed that the accident occurred after a tyre burst on the bus conveying the journalists, leading to a loss of control and a fatal crash.
Confirming the incident, the Gombe State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Samson Kaura, said seven persons died in the crash, while four others sustained varying degrees of injuries.
Kaura added that the injured victims were rescued from the scene and taken to medical facilities for treatment.
The Director-General, Government House Press and Media Affairs, Ismaila Misili, also confirmed the death toll, describing the incident as tragic and devastating to the state’s media community.
Reacting, the National President of the NUJ, Alhassan Yahya, in a statement, expressed deep sorrow over the deaths, describing the incident as a huge loss to the journalism profession in Gombe State and Nigeria at large.
Yahya said the deceased journalists were dedicated professionals who served the public with courage, integrity and professionalism.
“They were committed practitioners who served the public with courage, integrity and professionalism. Their loss has left an irreplaceable void in our noble profession,” he said.
The NUJ president also expressed the union’s solidarity with the families of the deceased and members of the Gombe State media community.
“We pray that Almighty God grants eternal rest to the souls of the departed and gives their loved ones the fortitude to bear this painful loss,” he added.
Yahya, speaking on behalf of the National Executive Council and journalists across the country, extended condolences to the Gombe State Council of the NUJ, as well as friends and colleagues of the victims.
He further said the tragic incident highlighted the need for improved road safety measures and responsible driving to prevent avoidable loss of lives, especially among journalists who frequently travel in the course of their duties.
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