Afghan baby survives horrendous truck bombing

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - A baby survivor of a horrendous Taliban suicide bombing in Afghanistan on Thursday evoked feelings of agony and disbelief in the war-ravaged country.

The main public hospital in the remote southern Zabul province was devastated by the early morning truck bombing by the Taliban that claimed at least 20 lives and wounded over 90 others.

A baby boy survived the explosion unscathed, with a local Afghan policeman saying in the background of a viral video that he was found lying unharmed among other victims.

The six-month-old had been brought to the hospital for vaccination by his mother, who had "sustained serious injuries", Gul Islam, spokesman for the provincial governor, told Anadolu Agency.

This episode in the latest spell of raging violence in Afghanistan moved an array of Afghans as well as other social media users.

"Where is humanity? How long can this killing and bloodshed carry on? This perpetual misery must end," said one Twitter user.

"I can't understand, whatever their [Taliban] beliefs but at the end of the day they are killing their own people', said another.

Claiming responsibility for the attack, the Taliban vowed to have targeted a nearby facility of the Afghan secret service.

The attack has been widely condemned by the Afghan government and the international community.

In its mid-year report, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan documented 3,812 civilian casualties (1,366 deaths and 2,446 injured) in the first half of 2019 alone.

According to the report, women and children continued to be disproportionately impacted by the armed conflict in Afghanistan. Up to June 30, 2019, the conflict caused 430 women casualties (144 deaths and 286 injured) and 1,207 casualties among children (327 deaths and 880 injured).