Taliban Confirms Death of Senior Commander in Kabul Military Hospital Attack

Officials reported that Taliban military leader, Hamdullah Makhles, was among the fighters killed in an attack by the Islamic State on a hospital in Kabul. Makhles is a member of the Haqqani Network and the Taliban's special forces unit "Badri 313," making him the highest-ranking Taliban official to be killed since the group took power in Afghanistan in mid-August. A Taliban media official stated, "When we received information that Sardar Dawood Khan Hospital was under attack, Maulvi Hamdullah (Makhles), the commander of the Kabul unit, rushed to the scene immediately." He added, "We tried to stop him, but he laughed, and we later discovered that he was martyred in the fighting at the hospital." At least 19 people were killed on Tuesday in the attack for which the Islamic State – Khorasan Province claimed responsibility, targeting the main military hospital in Kabul. The assault began when a suicide bomber detonated explosives he was carrying near the hospital entrance before armed attackers stormed the facility. In response to the attack, the Taliban deployed its special forces on the roof of the building using a helicopter seized from the previous Afghan government, which was supported by the Americans. Eyewitnesses told AFP that patients and doctors attempted to barricade themselves in rooms on the upper floors as the gunfire began. In a statement published on its channels on the Telegram platform, the Islamic State announced that "five fighters from the Islamic State carried out a coordinated simultaneous attack" on the Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan Military Hospital in Kabul. The statement clarified that one fighter detonated his suicide belt at the hospital gate before other fighters stormed the facility and opened fire.