Taliban say ready to counter Afghan force offensive

The Taliban said on Wednesday it was ready to fight the Afghan forces after President Ashraf Ghani's order to resume the offensive against the insurgents following two deadly attacks that further undermined the fragile peace process.

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"As of now, responsibility for any increase in violence and its ramifications will fall fully on the shoulders of the Kabul administration," the insurgents reacted in a statement, saying they were "fully prepared" to respond.

After declaring that the Taliban and the Islamic State group were responsible for the two attacks, President Ghani on Tuesday ordered Afghan forces to "resume operations against the enemy".

The latter had pledged, for several weeks, to be content with defending themselves against the Taliban attacks, in order to encourage the opening of peace negotiations.

Bloody attack on a maternity hospital

New details also emerged Wednesday of Tuesday's bloody attack on a maternity hospital in Kabul, which killed at least 24 people, including newborn babies, mothers and nurses, hours before the deaths of 32 others of a suicide bombing during a funeral in the east of the country.

According to the NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which supports the maternal care unit of the hospital targeted in west Kabul, a woman gave birth during the hours-long attack.

"Taking advantage of the total vulnerability of pregnant women, young mothers and newborns cared for in the Dasht-e-Barchi hospital in Kabul, an unknown number of attackers attacked the managed maternity hospital for several hours by MSF with shots and explosive devices, "MSF said in a statement.

"It seems almost certain that at least one of our carers is among the victims, still being identified," added the NGO. Exchanges between Kabul and the insurgents following the attacks still call into question an already uncertain peace process.

"The Taliban cannot simply reject their roles in the violence, including the most recent," Sediq Sediqi, the spokesman for the Afghan president, told reporters.

Insurgents have denied responsibility for Tuesday's attacks, and IS claimed responsibility for the funeral.