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15 people killed, several wounded after gunmen storm Kabul hospital

15 people killed, several wounded after gunmen storm Kabul hospital

Dasht-e-Barchi hospital

15 people have been killed while 45 wounded and 80 patients have beenevacuated from a hospital in Kabul after gunmen attacked it on Tuesday,according to a spokesman forAfghanistan'sinterior ministry.

Spokesman Tariq Arian said special forces on the scene were continuing their efforts to rescue all remaining patients and staff, and had already killed one attacker in a "clearing operation" which was still underway.

TheDasht-e-Barchi hospital is run by the international humanitarian organisationMédecins Sans Frontières(MSF)as a maternity clinic.

Several people were also wounded in the attack on the Dasht-e-Barchi hospital, according to a ministry of interior official, and dozens of people were being evacuated.

Some people remained trapped in the hospital and several doctors had leapt to an adjacent building after at least three attackers wearing police uniforms entered, throwing grenades and shooting, government officials said.

No group has taken responsibility behind the attack. Taliban denied claims of being responsiblefor the attack.

The 100-bed government-run facility is supported by MSF, said Wahidullah Mayar, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health.

Security forces were working to counter the attack and 80 people including women and children had been evacuated, said the interior ministry spokesman, Tariq Arian.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani ordered the country's security forces Tuesday to resume offensive operations against the Taliban and other insurgent groups, following two separate attacks that killed dozens of people.

"I order all the security forces to end their active defence position, return to offensive postures, and resume their operations against the enemy," Ghani said in a televised address.