Militants Attack Kabul University Campus, Injuries Reported

By Staff, Agencies

Gunfire erupted between Afghan security forces and armed militants, who staged an attack on Kabul University’s campus, leaving several people wounded.

Gunmen attacked the campus in the capital on Monday, after a bomb blast, as a book exhibition was being held by Afghan and Iranian officials there.

"The enemies of Afghanistan, the enemies of education... have entered Kabul University," Tariq Arian, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, told reporters. "The security forces are in the area trying to control the situation. They are advancing carefully to prevent any harm to the students."

“Gunshots still can be heard in the area but security forces have blocked it off,” he explained. “We don’t know whether we are dealing with a coordinated attack or something else.”

Reports said students left the campus immediately after they were informed of the attack.

At least eight people were injured, including a university instructor and a student, according to reports.

The Taliban denied their fighters were involved in the attack.

Hamid Obaidi, a spokesman for the ministry of higher education, said gunfire erupted prior to the arrival of government officials for the opening of the book exhibition.

Masooma Jafari, a Health Ministry official, confirmed that eight people, including students and teachers, had been taken to hospital.

Last week two dozen people, mostly students, lost their lives as an educational center in western Kabul was targeted in an attack claimed by Daesh [the Arabic acronym for terrorist ‘ISIS/ISIL’ group].

In 2018, a suicide bomber killed dozens of people, many of them teenagers, in front of Kabul University in an attack also claimed by the terrorist group.