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Kabul – An attack on a midwifery school in Jalalabad, eastern Afghanistan, ended on Saturday after seven hours of suspense and the death of the two attackers.
The 67 students and the center's staff were released unharmed but two people were killed – a guard and a driver – and five wounded, Nangarhar police spokesman told AFP , Ghulam Sanyee Stanikzai.
The attack was not claimed, but a Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, badured AFP that " the attack on Jalalabad has nothing to do with us ] ", suggesting that it was led by the extremists of the Islamic State (IS) group.
The spokesman of the provincial governor, Attaullah Khogyani, confirmed the end of the operation, indicating that three members of the armed forces are among the wounded.
million. Khogyani had previously stated that " 57 persons ", that is most of those present in the building, had been " put in safety, but that " ten people miss the call " (19659003) Mr. Stanikzai, on the other hand, said nothing about it, claiming that among the " 67 hostages, some managed to escape through the door and others jumped through the windows ", and that" the other hostages were released by the police ".
The first photos of the building showed broken windows, tiles damaged by the shots, but no considerable damage.
The first explosion sounded around 11:30 am (0700 GMT), followed by further detonations and shots. " The attack targeted our midwifery training center ", said the spokesman of the provincial department Inamullah Miakhil
This school is located in the city center of Jalalabad, in the heart of a neighborhood with many administrative buildings and black smoke.
" After the first explosion I counted three more and saw three badailants rush into the aisle " of the school, told a witness, Ehsan Niazi, who was at the Department of Labor and Social Affairs next to the school.
Another, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he " saw attackers scattering mines " to slow down the intervention of the relief and law enforcement agencies, and last defuse them.
– High maternal mortality –
The training of midwives is an absolute necessity in the country: UNICEF estimates that only 45% of Afghan women receive medical badistance during childbirth. The majority give birth alone, often for several hours from the first clinic or hospital center.
After a marked improvement in the ten years following the US intervention in late 2001 to drive the Taliban out of power, the maternal mortality rate deteriorated again due to the lack of skilled personnel and health care facilities in the country. the most remote or insecure regions, says USAID, the US development agency, a major donor.
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 regions are out of reach of Unicef or Afghan government studies.
Jalalabad, the regional capital of the East, and the province of Nangarhar as a whole are among the most conservative regions, and frequently the scene of attacks perpetrated by the Taliban or the IS.
The last one was dated July 11, against a building of the Department of Education. The operation, unclaimed, had killed eleven.
The day before, a suicide attack by ISIS on a convoy of Afghan intelligence services killed 12 people, mostly civilians caught in the fire at a service station triggered by the explosion.
The pressure exerted by US-backed Afghan forces since the winter has led to the recent dislodgement of the IS from the districts it had controlled for two years, but its presence is far from being eliminated in the past. region.
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