We are devastated by yesterday’s sickening attack on women, mothers, and their babies receiving care at our maternity ward in Dasht-e-Barchi hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan.

While these pregnant women and babies were in one of life’s most vulnerable states, an unknown number of assailants stormed the maternity hospital and unleashed a series of explosions and gunfire that lasted for hours.

Doctors Without Borders condemns this senseless act of violence, which has cost the lives of many people and deprived women and children in Kabul of fundamental health care in an area where access to essential care is already limited.

We mourn the loss of several patients, and are very worried about indications that at least one colleague was also killed. For now, with so much uncertainty, every effort is being made by our medical team to follow up on the newborns in the maternity hospital to ensure the best possible care to our patients and to those injured, to provide psychological care to affected staff, and to provide every necessary support to those bereaved.

Medical activities in the maternity ward of Dasht-e-Barchi are suspended—but not closed—leaving people in the region with fewer options for maternity care for the time being. Patients were evacuated to surrounding hospitals and staff were brought to safety.

More than ever, Doctors Without Borders stands in solidarity with the Afghan people.

Read more about this update and our work in Afghanistan at doctorswithoutborders.org.