3 US Doctors Killed in Afghan Hospital

An Afghan security guard opened fire on a group of foreign doctors at a Kabul hospital this morning, killing three American physicians and wounding a US nurse. The shooting at Cure International Hospital in western Kabul was the latest in a string of deadly attacks on foreign civilians this year. "A child specialist doctor who was working in this hospital for the last seven years for the people of Afghanistan was killed and also two others who were here to meet him, and they were also American nationals," says the Minister of Health. "The two visitors were father and son, and a woman who was also in the visiting group was wounded." She was apparently an American nurse.

The attacker was a member of the Afghan Public Protection Force assigned to guard the hospital, according to the local police chief; the man's motive was not yet clear, nor was the level of Taliban involvement. The gunman was wounded and in custody. He emerged from surgery in the afternoon and was in recovery under heavy police guard at Cure International before being questioned. The Cure International Hospital specializes in child and maternity health; it is affiliated with the Christian charity Cure International, which operates in 29 countries. (More Afghanistan stories.)