KABUL – An hours-long gun and suicide attack on a Kabul governmentcompound killed at least 43 people, the health ministry said Tuesday,making it one of the deadliest assaults on the Afghan capital this year.
No militant group has claimed responsibility for the raid, which caps abloody year for Afghanistan as long-suffering civilians and security forcesare slaughtered in record numbers.
Another 10 people were wounded in Monday’s massacre on a site where theMinistry of Public Works and an office that handles pensions and benefitsfor war veterans are located, spokesperson Waheed Majroh said.
Gunmen stormed the compound mid-afternoon after detonating a car bomb atthe entrance, sending terrified government workers running for their lives.Some jumped from windows several floors high to escape the militants.
Hundreds more were trapped inside buildings for hours as heavily armedsecurity forces swarmed the area, engaging the attackers in a fierce gunbattle punctuated by multiple explosions.
At least four militants, including the suicide bomber, were killed and morethan 350 people freed, officials said. Most of the dead and wounded werecivilians, who have borne the brunt of the 17-year war.
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It was the deadliest assault in the Afghan capital since a suicide bomberblew himself up in the middle of a religious gathering last month, killingat least 55 people.
President Ashraf Ghani, whose government has been skewered over itssecurity failures, said “terrorists attack civilian targets to hide theirdefeat on the battleground”.
Afghanistan’s de facto prime minister Abdullah Abdullah also sounded adefiant note as he blamed the Taliban for the attack.“Every attack they carry out against our people, our resolve is furtherstrengthened to eliminate them,” he said.
But their statements belie the grim reality on the battlefield where theTaliban have the upper hand. – APP/AFP
