Kabul attack over; at least 19 killed after gunmen storm university campus

At least 19 people have been killed and about two dozen others wounded when heavily-armed gunmen stormed Kabul University in Afghanistan's capital city in an attack that ended after hours of fighting with security forces.

The attack started when three attackers, one wearing an explosive vest, entered the university campus in the Afghan capital on Monday morning. 

Hamid Obaidi, a spokesman for the ministry of higher education, said that the attack started when government officials were arriving for the opening of an Iranian book fair organized at the campus.

Survivors described horrific scenes following the incident that unfolded around 11:00 am (0530 GMT) when a terrorist wearing an explosive vest blew himself up inside the campus.

Two gunmen then started shooting, officials said, sending hundreds of students fleeing and scrambling over perimeter walls.

Videos on social media showed students screaming and fleeing the compound for the search of safety.

Photos shared by a senior government official showed students lying dead in classrooms, some next to their books. 

Gunfight erupts as militants attack Kabul University campus

Gunfire erupts between Afghan security forces and armed militants who storm Kabul University campus.

One student appeared to have been shot when trying to climb out of a window. 

"They were shooting at every student they saw ... they even shot at the students who were running away," media outlets quoted witness Fathullah Moradi as saying

Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian later gave more details of the militant raid and confirmed the death toll, saying, "Three attackers were involved. One of them blew up his explosives at the beginning, two were brought down by the security forces."

“The attack is over, but sadly 19 people have been killed and 22 more wounded,”  the spokesman added.

Hours after the attack, the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group claimed responsibility for the shooting at the university, noting that its terrorist members “managed to attack a gathering set up by the Afghan government at the Kabul University for the graduation of judges and investigators after completing a course at the university."

It added that the terrorists "targeted the graduates with automatic weapons... then clashed with security forces" guarding the ceremony as well as reinforcements.

Earlier on Monday, the Taliban group said their fighters were not involved in the assault, but Vice President Amrullah Saleh blamed the group and their supporters in Pakistan, while acknowledging an intelligence failure. 

We "will correct our intelligence failures. But the Talibs, their like minded satanic allies in the next door won't be ever able to wash their conscience of this stinking & non justifiable attack on Kbul uni," Saleh said on Twitter.

Several education centers in Afghanistan have been attacked over the years by extremist groups. 

Last week two dozen people, mostly students, lost their lives as an educational center in western Kabul was targeted in an attack claimed by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

In 2018, a bomber killed dozens of people, many of them teenagers, in front of Kabul University in an attack also claimed by Daesh.

Violence has kept up its attacks across Afghanistan while the Kabul government and the group's negotiators have been meeting in Qatar to try to broker a peace deal and end nearly two decades of war in the country.

The intra-Afghan talks began in the wake of a deal reached between the United States and the Taliban earlier this year in Doha.

Under the deal, Washington promised to pull out all its troops by mid-2021 in return for the Taliban to stop their attacks on US-led occupation foreign forces in Afghanistan.

Official data shows that Taliban bombings and other assaults have increased 70 percent since the group reached a deal with Washington.

American forces have also bombed Taliban positions in recent weeks in another sign of the collapse of the so-called peace talks with the militants. 

Washington invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban-run government in 2001 under the pretext of fighting terrorism following the September 11 attacks.

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