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Security forces arrive at the scene of an attack on a midwifery school in Jalalabad (eastern Afghanistan) on Saturday, July 28, 2018. The attack ended after seven hours of suspense and the death of the two attackers.
STR /
AFP
An attack was under way on Saturday since late morning against a midwifery school in Jalalabad, eastern Afghanistan, one of the most conservative cities in the country's frequent terrorist attacks. 19659004] According to an official source, while shots are still firing more than five hours after the start of the attack, at least three wounded were sent to the hospital – a provisional and probably incomplete record.
Nangarhar Governor Attaullah Khogyani's spokesman said "57 people," most of the people in the building – students, teachers, administrators – "were safe but ten people were missing" about whom the authorities have no news.
"Security forces surround the perimeter and enter the compound to neutralize the attackers", added Mr. Khogyani
A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, joined by AFP, badured that "the Jalalabad attack has nothing to do with us", suggesting that it is driven by the extremists of the Islamic State (IS) group even though it was not claimed.
The first explosion was fired at around 11:30 am (0700 GMT), followed by further detonations and gunfire.
"L The attack targeted our midwifery training center, "said provincial health ministry spokesman Inamullah Miakhil, who said the school was funded by the Ministry of Health without Western funds.
It is located in downtown Jalalabad, in the heart of a district that includes many administrative buildings.
Witnesses told AFP have heard several successive explosions followed by shooting. Ehsan Niazi, who was in the labor and social affairs department next to the school, also reported smoke rising from the site.
"After the first explosion I heard three others and I saw three badailants rush into the street leading to the department, "he said, pointing out that ambulances were on site.
Another witness, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he had" heard gunfire and saw badailants scattering mines "to slow the intervention of relief and law enforcement.
Maternal Mortality
Midwifery training is an absolute necessity in the country: UNICEF estimates that barely 45% of Afghan women receive medical badistance during childbirth
After a marked improvement in the ten years following the US intervention in late 2001 to drive the Taliban out of power, the rate of maternal mortality It has again deteriorated due to a lack of qualified personnel and healthcare facilities in the most remote or insecure regions, according to USAID, the US development agency and one of the main donors.
This rate officially stood at 396 deaths per 100,000 births in 2015 (against more than 1,600 estimated in 2002); but these figures are disputed by observers in the field who argue that many areas are out of reach of Unicef or Afghan government studies.
Jalalabad, Eastern Regional Capital and Nangarhar Province in all of them are among the most conservative regions, and frequently the scene of attacks perpetrated by the Taliban or the EI group.
The last one dated back to July 11, against a building of the Department of Education. The operation, which had not been claimed, had killed 11.
The previous day, a suicide attack by the IS against a convoy of the Afghan intelligence service had killed twelve people, mostly civilians caught in the attack. fire at service station triggered by explosion
The pressure exerted since winter by Afghan forces backed by the US military recently made it possible to dislodge the IS from the districts it had controlled for two years, even if its presence is far from being eliminated in the region.
mama-ach / lch
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