An Afghan mother volunteered to breastfeed 20 newborn babies from a Kabul maternity unit after newborns, nurses and mothers were slaughtered in a gun attack this week.
Feroza Younis Omar is feeding babies who were left without mothers after a gun attack on the Doctors Without Borders maternity unit in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
24 people were killed in the attack, including two newborns, according to the health ministry.
Feroza Younis Omar (pictured) volunteered to feed babies who were left without mothers after a terror attack on a Kabul maternity ward which saw 24 people killed this week
The mother(pictured), who works at the country’s Economic Ministry, has a 14-month-old child and is breastfeeding babies who were in the maternity unit targeted by gunmen on Tuesday
Feroza Younis Omar, who is the mother of a 14-month-old child and works at the country’s Economic Ministry, is helping the recovering newborns at Ataturk Hospital in Kabul.
She said: ‘All of us have been damaged by criminals who are destroying humanity in Afghanistan. I am one of those.’
Three gunmen dressed as police officers stormed the maternity hospital in the Afghan capital on Tuesday morning.
They threw grenades before opening fire.
Pictured, a nurse cares for a newborn baby who survived the attack. At least twenty newborns were left without caretakers and were transferred to the Ataturk Hospital in Kabul
An Afghan mother feeds a newborn baby at the Ataturk Hospital in Kabul. The evacuation of more than 80 people was reported, according to officials
The gunmen then got into a shootout with security forces which ended several hours later when all three were shot dead.
A lengthy clearance operation saw heavily armed Afghan security forces carry babies from the scene – at least one wrapped in a blood-soaked blanket.
Khadija, one of the few survivors of the attack, revealed that she had been forced to wait to hug her newborn son for the first time as the armed group stormed the unit just hours after she gave birth.
She said the intensive care ward had been full of smoke and bullets but both she and her son survived, with Khadija herself having to hide under a table to avoid the bullets.
No group has so far claimed the attack, but President Ashraf Ghani blamed both the Taliban and the Islamic State group but singled out the former and ordered the military to switch tactics from ‘defensive to offensive’ when dealing with the insurgents.
A lengthy clearance operation saw heavily armed Afghan security forces carry babies from the scene. Pictured, one child is evacuated wrapped in a blood-soaked blanket
After opening fire on civilians, the gunmen then got into a shootout with security forces which ended several hours later when all three were shot dead (pictured, the scene inside one of the wards)
On Wednesday, the families of around 15 babies, whose mothers were killed, were awaiting news on what will happen to the children. Pictured, a rescued mother and her newborn baby take medical care in a hospital.
The Taliban has responded by warning it is ‘fully prepared’ to counter Afghan forces.
Following the attack, at least twenty newborns were left without caretakers and were transferred to the Ataturk Hospital in Kabul.
On Wednesday, the families of around 15 babies, whose mothers were killed, were awaiting news on what will happen to the children, according to the New York Times.
The hospital’s head doctor Jannat Gul Askarzada told reporters: ‘Twenty babies have been brought to Ataturk Hospital. One of them was sent to the children’s health hospital for orthopedic treatment.’
As the news hit the headlines in Afghanistan, many people took to Twitter to praise Feroza Younis Omar for her efforts and a hashtag bearing her name went viral.
As the news hit the headlines in Afghanistan, many people took to Twitter to praise Feroza Younis Omar for her efforts and a hashtag bearing her name went viral. Pictured, babies are taken away in an ambulance after the attack
‘Masoom Musakhail’ tweeted: ‘That is the Humanity to feed the baby of martyred Mothers.’
Meanwhile, Senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment ‘Karim Sadjadpour’ called the mother ‘a true hero’.
Others have now stepped forward to lead by her example and assist families involved in the attack.
Aziza Kermani, from Kabul, told local media: ‘I am ready to adopt one of the babies who have lost their mother or whose families do not have the financial ability to raise them.’
Meanwhile, another resident of the capital who only gave her name as Fatima told a local outlet that she came to the hospital to help the children.