Nine killed as militants storm American University in Kabul

TIL Desk/World/Kabul-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. “Seven students were martyred, and 30 other students and lecturers were wounded,” interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told, adding that two policemen were also killed.

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. The attack began just after dusk, when the private university is usually packed with students, many of them working professionals doing part-time courses.