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Al-Ahed Telegram

Attack on American University of Afghanistan Leaves 12 Dead

Attack on American University of Afghanistan Leaves 12 Dead
folder_openAsia-Pacific... access_time7 years ago
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Local Editor

Attackers stormed the heavily-barricaded American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, firing at students in an hours-long overnight siege that left 12 people dead and 30 wounded by Thursday morning.

Attack on American University of Afghanistan Leaves 12 Dead

The assault began during evening classes on Wednesday, when a truck bomb exploded outside the fortified wall of the campus, opening the way for two assailants to enter as panicked students and staff fled and hid, Afghan officials and witnesses said.

Seven students, three policemen and two security guards were killed in the nine-hour siege, police spokesman Basir Mujahideen said. Thirty students were wounded, he added.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the assault, but the university had long been at high risk of attack from Taliban militants because of its association with foreigners.

Elite Afghan troops led the clearing operation and exchanged gunfire with the militants as they attempted to secure the campus.

Ahmad Mukhtar was in the courtyard talking to friends when he heard gunshots followed by a large explosion.

"The explosion lit up the whole university," said Mukhtar, a local reporter and part-time student at the university. "We rushed in all directions. Some jumped over the wall-I did, too."

Mujahid, the police spokesman, said there were about 700 students inside the campus at the time of the attack. Most of them were at the prestigious school for after-work classes.

The English-language university first opened in 2006 with US funding, and is the country's top institution for higher education, attracting many young Afghans. Foreign professors teach there.

Earlier this month, two teachers working at the university-an American and an Australian-were kidnapped while on their way from their guesthouse to the campus. Their whereabouts are unknown.

Wednesday's attack came the day after a US service member was killed by a roadside bomb during a patrol in the hotly-contested southern province of Helmand. Six Afghan troops were wounded.

It was the first US fatality in Afghanistan since January, and a reminder that foreign troops are once again being drawn into combat roles in Afghanistan to confront a reinvigorated Taliban.

Another challenge to the country's security is the emergence of a local branch of Daesh [Arabic acronym for "ISIS" / "ISIL"], which last month carried out triple suicide attacks that killed some 80 people in Kabul. Most were members of the Shiite Muslim Hazara minority and had gathered for a peaceful protest.

It was the single deadliest terrorist attack to strike the capital in 15 years of war.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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