Indian doctors in Kabul serve despite uncertainty: PM

NEW DELHI - Saying the Indian Medical Mission was devoted to serving in Afghanistan despite uncertainty, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday expressed condolence to the families of Indian medical professionals who lost their lives or were injured in the Kabul terror attack a day earlier.

“As I stand before you, my thought goes to those members of the Indian Medical Mission in Kabul in Afghanistan, who while serving the people of Afghanistan, particularly the women and children at the Indira Gandhi Hospital in Kabul, perished due to the terror attack yesterday (Friday),” Singh said while addressing a heart surgeons conference here.

“This is a measure of the uncertainty that Indias Medical Mission has to work under. And that defines all the risks our medical team has been exposed to (while) serving the people of Afghanistan. It is a measure of the commitment to relief of human suffering that the medical fraternity is known for all over the world, the prime minister added.

Taliban attackers Friday triggered a series of explosions, and a gun battle that killed at least 17 people, including nine Indians, a French citizen and an Italian. Of the nine Indians, at least one was a doctor.

The Afghan interior ministry has said six Indians have been killed. The Indian external affairs ministry said Friday that up to nine Indians were killed in the terror attack and the body count was still on.