Saturday, August 27, 2016
Kabul (BNA) Militants armed with a car bomb, grenades and automatic weapons killed at least 13 people during the 10-hour attack on the American University of Afghanistan, police said Thursday.
Most of staff and students fled but around 160 were forced to hole up in classrooms during Wednesday’s brazen assault on Afghanistan’s most prestigious university, according to the country’s Interior Ministry. They were later rescued by special police units.
Seven students, one professor, three police and two security officers were killed at the university, according to the Interior Ministry. A caretaker at a nearby school for the blind also died in the attack. Around 36 students and police were wounded. No Americans appeared to have been killed or injured in the attack, according to Elizabeth Trudeau, US State Department spokeswoman. “Our thoughts are with the families and friends of Afghan students, staff and security personnel who lost their lives,” she added in a statement. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement that the United States “condemns in the strongest terms” the attack against the university. “This was a cowardly assault on talented and motivated scholars — students and faculty alike — dedicated to a better and more prosperous future for Afghanistan, as well as the police and security staff who help make that future possible,” Kerry said in the statement. “Though it took and altered innocent lives, this attack will ultimately fail to change that path or deter the cause of peace in that country.” One attacker died in the initial car bomb blast and two gunmen were killed by police early on Thursday, according to Kabul Police Chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack. The attack comes two weeks after two university staff, an American and an Australian, were kidnapped from their car by unknown gunmen. Their whereabouts are still unknown. Located on the edge of Kabul, the university was established in 2006 to offer liberal arts courses modeled on the U.S. system. Around 1,000 students are enrolled there.
