AMERICAN UNIVERSITY in Kabul Under Attack, 1 Dead, 21 Injured, Students Trapped

More of Obama’s lies in the cause of imposing, advancing Islam here and abroad:

–“The Islamic State is not Islam.”

–“I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.”
–“The future must not belong to those who slander the Prophet of Islam.”

–“The Muslim call to prayer if one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.”

–“We will convey our deep appreciation for the Islamic faith, which has done so much over the centuries to shape the world — including in my own country.”

–“As a student of history, I also know civilization’s debt to Islam.” “Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance.”

–“Islam has always been part of America.”

–“We will encourage more Americans to study in Muslim communities.”

–“These rituals remind us of the principles that we hold in common, and Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings.”

–“America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.”

–“I made clear that America is not – and never will be – at war with Islam.”

–“Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism – it is an important part of promoting peace.”

–“So I have known Islam on three continents before coming to the region where it was first revealed.”

–“In ancient times and in our times, Muslim communities have been at the forefront of innovation and education.”

–“Throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality.”

–“Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity and racial equality.”

–“The Holy Koran tells us, ‘O mankind! We have created you male and a female; and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another.’”

–“I look forward to hosting an Iftar dinner celebrating Ramadan here at the White House later this week, and wish you a blessed month.”

–“We’ve seen those results in generations of Muslim immigrants – farmers and factory workers, helping to lay the railroads and build our cities, the Muslim innovators who helped build some of our highest skyscrapers and who helped unlock the secrets of our universe.”

–“That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn’t. And I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.”

“I also know that Islam has always been a part of America’s story.”

“At least 1 dead, 25 wounded in militant attack on American University of Afghanistan, By FoxNews.com, August 24, 2016:

>DEVELOPING: At least one person died and 25 others were hurt Wednesday after militants attacked the American University of Afghanistan in western Kabul, an Afghan official said.

Hedayatullah Stanikzai, an official with the Ministry of Public Health, said a guard employed by the university had been killed and that the wounded included a foreign teacher. University authorities could not immediately be reached for comment.

Reuters reported that dozens of students and foreign staffers were trapped inside classrooms and safe rooms hours after the assault began Wednesday evening, local time. Police spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said security forces were conducting operations to track down the “terrorists”.

Witnesses and a U.S.-based school administrator told Fox News the gunfire had stopped but security teams were still sweeping the area. Ambulances raced victims to a nearby hospital. Local media reported fires continued to burn on campus.

Sediqqi said it was not clear if there were one or two attackers.

Associated Press photographer Massoud Hossaini was in a classroom with 15 students when he heard an explosion on the southern flank of the campus.

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Afghan security forces rushing to respond to the attack. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

“I went to the window to see what was going on, and I saw a person in normal clothes outside. He shot at me and shattered the glass,” Hossaini said, adding that he fell on the glass and cut his hands.

The students then barricaded themselves inside the classroom, pushing chairs and desks against the door, and staying on the floor. Hossaini said at least two grenades were thrown into the classroom, wounding several of his classmates.

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A wounded person treated in an ambulance. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Hossaini and about nine students later managed to escape from the campus through an emergency gate.

“As we were running I saw someone lying on the ground face down, they looked like they had been shot in the back,” he said.

Hossaini and the other students took refuge in a residential house near the campus, and were later safely evacuated by Afghan security forces.

Another student described jumping out of second-floor windows in an attempt to escape the attack.

“Many students jumped from the second floor, some broke their legs and some hurt their head trying to escape,” said Abdullah Fahimi, a student who injured his ankle making the leap.

Dejan Panic, the program director at Kabul’s Emergency Hospital, said 18 people wounded in the attack, including five women, had been admitted. He said three were “seriously” wounded, probably from automatic gunfire.

A car bomb had exploded outside a school for the blind next door before at least one attacker fired at the university campus from that school building, a police officer at the scene told The New York Times.

The U.S. Embassy was working to account for all of its personnel, State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters. She said the State Department condemned the attack.

The U.S. military was assisting Afghan forces who responded to the attack, U.S. Army Colonel Michael T. Lawhorn told Fox News. “These advisors are not taking a combat role, but advising their Afghan counterparts.”

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The Taliban have been fighting to overthrow the Kabul government for 15 years, and regard foreign civilians as legitimate targets.

The university was established in 2006 to offer liberal arts courses modeled on the U.S. system. It claims as many as 1,700 students are enrolled there, 40 percent of whom are women.

Two of its professors were kidnapped at gunpoint in Kabul on August 7. The professors were identified as Kevin King, an American, and Timothy Weeks from Australia. Men in military uniforms reportedly abducted them as they traveled between the campus and their home in Kabul. The professors’ whereabouts are unclear.