[Washington,Kabul]USA Salutes Afgan National Defense For Quick Response In American University :9 Killed
The United States condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attack on the American University of Afghanistan.9 Killed
USA Said “We salute the quick work of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces who responded to the attack and secured the university. We send our thoughts and prayers to the families and loved ones of those killed and our heartfelt wishes for a speedy recovery to those wounded. We further reaffirm the support of the United States for the Afghan government and people as they continue to build a more stable, secure, and prosperous Afghanistan”.
At least nine people were killed after militants stormed the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, officials said today, in a nearly 10-hour raid that prompted anguished pleas for help from trapped students.
Explosions and gunfire rocked the campus after the attack began yesterday evening, just weeks after two university professors — an American and an Australian — were kidnapped at gunpoint near the school.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the assault, but it occurred as Taliban insurgents ramp up their nationwide summer offensive against the Western-backed Kabul government.
Hundreds of students were rescued during the overnight operation, he said, many of whom tweeted desperate messages for help, with some using classroom furniture to barricade the doors.
NATO military advisers were helping Afghan forces to respond to the attack, a US official said, without specifying how many troops were involved.
Many of the wounded were rushed into waiting ambulances outside the university on stretchers, as erratic gunshots rang out through the night from inside the complex.
The elite American University of Afghanistan, which opened in 2006 and enrolls more than 1,700 students, is seen as a high-profile target for militants partly because it attracts foreign faculty members.
The two foreign professors at the university were seized from their vehicle on August 7, as the kidnappers smashed the passenger window and hauled them away at gunpoint.
It was apparently the first reported abduction related to a private university in Afghanistan.