Kabul Hospital Attack: US Blames ISIS, But Afghan Officials Want to Pin Incident on Taliban

Taliban denies involvement, suggests Afghan government investigate

Earlier this week, gunmen attacked a Kabul maternity ward, killing a number of people, including two newborns. The incident was shocking even by Afghan standards. US officials say they believe the attack was by ISIS forces, suggesting they were trying to undermine the Taliban peace deal.

The Afghan government, which is open to undermining the peace deal themselves, had already blamed the Taliban, and say that they reject both the US claims of ISIS responsibility and the Taliban’s denial of involvement.

The Taliban, who denied the attack almost immediately when it happened, said they don’t appreciate the Afghan government blaming them, saying they’re just trying to pin blame without any expert investigation.

Afghan officials seemed to hope this would be a big blow to the US-Taliban deal, announcing a new offensive against the Taliban more or less immediately after the attack, despite the Taliban’s denial of involvement.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.