KABUL – Insurgents launched a complex assault against the United States embassy and the nearby North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) headquarters in Kabul yesterday, targeting the heavily guarded compounds with rockets in an attack that raised new questions about the security of Afghanistan’s capital and of westerners working there.
At least 10 explosions – apparently from rockets launched by militants – and waves of automatic weapons fire were reported amid the drone of sirens and English-language warnings telling Americans inside the embassy to take cover.
Sediq Sediqi, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said two attackers had been killed, as was one policeman. At about 4pm local time, three attackers were believed to still be fighting. The assault had begun at 1.15pm.
Kerri Hannan, a spokeswoman for the US embassy, said no embassy personnel had been hurt. It was unclear precisely how many assailants were behind the assault or whether they were attacking from a single or multiple locations.
The attackers appeared to be holed up on several floors of a tall, partly built concrete building that offered a bird’s-eye view of the secured diplomatic and military compounds, about a half mile away.
Flashes from gun barrels could be seen as the militants fired from the building. Afghan security forces returned fire from the ground, sending puffs of concrete dust into the air as bullets hit the building.
Col Abdul Zahir, of the criminal investigative division of the Kabul police, said: “We’re still in fighting position. We can’t say anything.”
Two explosions were also reported near the Afghan Parliament, but it was unclear whether militants were trying to attack the government building or other targets.
The embassy assault was the latest in a string of attacks that have chipped away at a tenuous sense of security in the capital.
In August, militants killed eight people in an attack on a British cultural centre, and in June, nine suicide bombers breached layers of security to attack the hillside Intercontinental Hotel.
During yesterday’s assault, two Blackhawk helicopters circled the building at 3.10pm, but did not immediately open fire. The streets surrounding the site, normally choked with traffic, were deserted of all but the security forces and people racing for cover. “We don’t know what’s happening,” one Afghan soldier said. “Everywhere you can hear shooting.”
Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message, saying the Taliban had set out to attack the embassy, a Nato base and Afghan government buildings. His claim could not be immediately confirmed.
The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force confirmed there were continuing attacks against the embassy and force headquarters, and said in a Twitter message there were “forces responding quickly”, but provided no other details.
This latest attack has come less than two months after Afghan forces assumed formal responsibility for security in the capital. – ( New York Timesservice)