At least 16 injured in blasts at Kabul hospital

(CNN) – At least 16 people were injured in two explosions at a military hospital in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Tuesday.

It was unclear whether there were fatalities in the blasts at the Daoud Khan military hospital, a teaching facility near the diplomatic quarter of the Afghan capital. Taliban officials said that special forces arrived at the scene.

A doctor treating patients admitted to the nearby Wazir Akbar Khan civil hospital said seven injured people had so far arrived. They were all men, two of them were in critical condition, he said. He said he did not know whether the patients at the nearby military hospital affected by the blasts were visitors, medical personnel or patients.

In addition, the humanitarian NGO “Emergency” tweeted that nine wounded were taken to its hospital in Kabul.

Daoud Khan Military Hospital has been attacked in the past. In 2011, suicide bombers linked to the Taliban blew themselves up inside the facility, killing 6 people and injuring 26 others.

In 2017, gunmen disguised as medical personnel stormed the hospital and killed at least 30 people during a six-hour siege that ended when the attackers were killed by Afghan security forces. ISIS claimed responsibility for that attack.

Afghanistan has been embroiled in a crisis since the hardline Taliban Islamist movement ousted the Western-backed government in August. Billions of dollars in aid were stopped and the international community warned that the country would soon collapse into chaos.

Last Friday, three guests were shot and killed at a wedding reception in eastern Afghanistan, apparently because music was playing.

News in development.