KABUL: Explosions and gunfire rocked central Kabul yesterday as the Taliban launched an attack close to an Afghan intelligence facility and the headquarters of a government force that protects foreign firms.
A witness described seeing two wounded policemen, though there was no official word on casualties.
The attack comes a week after a suicide car bomb targeting a foreign military convoy killed 15 people, including five Americans, in the deadliest attack in the capital for nearly a year.
The Taliban announced their annual “spring offensive” on April 27, opening a crucial period as local security forces take the lead in the fight against the insurgents.
At least two blasts hit the centre of Kabul at about 4pm yesterday, the second day of the Afghan weekend, and gunfire erupted as security forces rushed to the scene.
Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said the initial blast came close to a hospital run by the NDS intelligence agency and the headquarters of the Afghan Public Protection Force (APPF) that provides security for clients, including international firms, supply convoys and aid groups. He said gunmen had occupied a building and were still there.
Jawed Kazem, a local shopkeeper, said: “I was sitting in my shop when the explosion happened. It was a big explosion which threw me off my chair, minutes later another explosion happened. “Smoke is rising and gunfire is continuing.”
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said that his group was responsible and added that the attack began with a suicide car bombing. Other Mujahideen then took position in a building and began firing on several targets, including a building in which foreigners and members of the spy agency live.
The suicide bombing last Thursday was the first major attack in Kabul since March 9 when a bomber on a bicycle killed nine people outside the defence ministry during a visit by US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel.
The attacks underline the capital’s vulnerability to militant assaults as 100,000 Nato troops gradually withdraw from Afghanistan. Local forces are increasingly coming under attack from the Taliban as they take over from foreign forces.
Six members of the APPF were killed on Tuesday in a roadside bombing in the west as they travelled to a hydroelectric dam under protection from insurgent attack. AGENCIES
