Taliban insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles at the U.S. embassy, NATO headquarters and other buildings in the heart of Kabul. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
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Killing at least two people, while suicide bombers struck police buildings in a blitz that displayed the ability of militants to take their fight to the doorsteps of Western power in Afghanistan.
Extremely heavy fire continued through the afternoon with no sign of the Taliban fighters’ backing down. U.S. embassy officials warned people nearby to remain under cover. Witnesses say the attack began in the early afternoon, with up to 15 loud explosions heard in the area, as helicopter gunships attacked the buildings from which the insurgents fired. Parliamentary officials say more attacks were staged at the other end of the city.
The coordinated assaults carried an unsettling message to Western leaders and their Afghan allies about the resilience and reach of the Taliban network. It was the third major attack in Kabul since late June, casting fresh doubts on the ability of Afghans to secure their country as U.S. and other foreign troops prepare to withdraw by the end of 2014.
The U.S. embassy and NATO said no staff members were wounded. Afghan officials said at least one Afghan police officer, one civilian and two insurgents were killed that afternoon. The Interior Ministry said nine people were wounded around Kabul, four of them in suicide bombings in the western part of the capital.
Some Afghans believe the Taliban insurgency will continue as long as foreign troops remain in Afghanistan. “It doesn’t matter if the Afghanistan military is ready or not, because America needs to leave, and the sides need to negotiate,” says Nasar Iqbal, an auditor from Jalabad. The surge of violence is a stark reminder of the instability that continues to plague Afghanistan nearly a decade after the U.S. invasion that ousted the Taliban for harboring al-Qaeda in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
