KABUL – Suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the communications ministry incentral Kabul on Saturday, officials said, in a deadly, hours-long assaultthat destroyed weeks of relative calm in the capital.
Daesh or ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Taliban said it had “nothing to do” with the attack, which left some2,000 people stranded in the tall office building for hours at the start ofthe Afghan work week.
No other group claimed immediate responsibility, but the Afghan branch ofthe Islamic State group has previously carried out multiple deadly attacksin the capital.
“As a result of today’s explosion/attack in Kabul city, two people havebeen martyred (killed) and 6 others are wounded,” the health ministryspokesman wrote in a tweet, adding 3 of the injured were women.
In a statement, the interior ministry said four civilians and threesoldiers had been killed, though unverified social media posts suggestedthe final toll could be higher.
AFP journalists heard one big blast around 11:40 am (0710 GMT), followed bysporadic gunfire for hours afterwards.
“The information that we have is four attackers have placed themselves nearthe communication ministry and are engaged in gun battles with the Afghansecurity forces,” Amanduddin Shariati, a security official in Kabul toldAFP.
By about 5:00 pm (1230 GMT), the interior ministry declared the assaultover.
“Operations finished. All suicide bombers killed & more than 2000 civiliansstaff rescued,” the ministry said on Twitter.
Panicked workers inside the 18-storey building, believed to be Kabul’stallest, moved up to the top floor as gunmen and Afghan security officialsbattled lower down.
One woman said she had been in a group of about 30 people on the 10th floorwhen the assault started, then was told to move up to the 18th floor asgunfire increased. They were all eventually rescued by commandos.
“Women were screaming and children of the kindergarten were the first to beevacuated,” the woman, who did not want to be named, told AFP.
Afghan authorities gave conflicting reports during the incident. Theinformation ministry initially said three suicide bombers had attacked apost office building at the ministry.
General Sayed Mohammad Roshan Dil, the Kabul police chief, said fourattackers had been wearing police uniforms and had targeted a shrine nearthe ministry.
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Footage on local television showed a small plume at the building, andpeople climbing out windows on a lower level.
The presidential palace said in a statement “the enemies of Afghanistanhave conducted a terrorist attack”.
“Once again they have created fear and have killed or wounded a number ofinnocent countrymen,” the statement read.
– Spring offensive –
The communication ministry is located in downtown Kabul, about twokilometres (1.25 miles) from the green zone, a heavily fortified compoundfor foreign embassies.
The area is the city’s main commercial zone and is home to a large hotel.
Aside from a grenade attack on a military vehicle last week and persistentcrime, the capital has in recent weeks enjoyed a period of relative calm.
Last year however saw a string of attacks including one where a massivebomb concealed in an ambulance killed more than 100 people.
The attack comes a week after the Taliban announced their annual springoffensive and amid ongoing fighting across Afghanistan.
It illustrates the sprawling nature of Afghanistan’s conflict, and theobstacles to peace even if a deal is reached with the Taliban.
This week in the Qatari capital Doha, a summit planned between the Talibanand officials from across Afghanistan was scrapped at the last minute dueto bickering over who should attend the conference.
The collapse comes at a critical time and amid continued bloodshed inAfghanistan, where the Taliban now control or influence about half ofAfghanistan and 3,804 civilians were killed there last year, according to aUN tally.
Taliban officials are separately negotiating with the United States, whichwants to forge a peace deal with the militants. -APP/AFP
