Suicide attackers, gunmen hit central Kabul

[Barrett]

Suicide attackers, gunmen hit central Kabul
Monday, 18 Jan, 2010

KABUL: Several gunmen, some wearing suicide vests, attacked locations in central Kabul, including a store and government ministries, on Monday morning, government officials, security forces and local television said.

Pedestrians in the area, a busy shopping and business precinct, ran after hearing an explosion followed by smaller blasts and gunfire, a local businessman told AFP.

“I heard the blast then we started running, but we happened to be running towards the explosions,” said Bahram Sarwary.

“I saw smoke coming from a building near the central bank and the presidential palace and I saw at least one person injured,” he said.

At least two insurgents had entered a large shop near the Justice Ministry and were engaged in a firefight, said a senior government official who asked not to be named.

Two men with suicide vests were locked in a gunbattle with security forces near government ministries, private Tolo television station said, quoting reporters at the scene.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for attacks under way on government buildings and the central bank in Kabul.

“It is our work, the targets are the presidential palace, the finance, justice and mines ministries, and the central bank,” purported Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.

“Twenty of our suicide bombers have entered the area and fighting is ongoing,” he said, adding that one militant had detonated a suicide vest at the entrance to the presidential palace complex.

Nato forces said they were assisting Afghan security forces in securing an area near the central bank, after reports of an explosion.

A security source told Reuters two rockets had also landed inside the capital. “It is a chaotic scene, we do not know what to do and where to go,” an official trapped in a government building near the presidential palace told Reuters.

The attack happened as some cabinet members of President Hamid Karzai were being sworn in.

DAWN.COM | World | Suicide attackers, gunmen hit central Kabul

 

[ejaz007]

Suicide attackers hit Kabul; 3 dead
Updated at: 1200 PST, Monday, January 18, 2010


KABUL: About two dozen gunmen, some wearing suicide vests, attacked locations across Kabul on Monday in a coordinated commando-style operation against several targets, including banks and Afghan government ministries.

Gunfire from street battles and loud explosions could be heard across the capital in the worst attack on the city in almost a year.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which came as some cabinet members of President Hamid Karzai were being sworn in.

"At least ten people who are suicide bombers are in several buildings, including in banks and shopping centers," security officer Amir Mohammad said at the scene where Afghan forces had cordoned off parts of central Kabul.

He had no information about casualties.

Another security source said as many as 30 attackers could be involved in clashes and three people had been killed.

"Gunmen are besieged in the store," he said, referring to a large store opposite the justice ministry and close to the presidential palace.

"They are firing on security forces and we believe suicide bombers are among them."

Suicide attackers hit Kabul; 3 dead

 

[ejaz007]

Explosions, gunfire hit downtown Kabul
January 18, 2010 2:35 a.m. EST

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- At least two explosions and gunfire shook downtown Kabul on Monday morning, with the Taliban saying it was conducting a militant operation.

The attack started as 14 members of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's Cabinet were to be sworn in, said Parliament member Fawzia Koofi.

About 20 Taliban insurgents entered the presidential palace; the ministries of finance, mines and justice; and the Serena Hotel, said spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid. The militants claimed responsibility for one explosion, which was later followed by at least one another.

In a differing account, NATO-led forces said "several small explosions" and gunfire were reported near the Feroshgah e Afghan Shopping Center and the Serena Hotel.

At least two insurgents had been killed at the shopping center, NATO-led forces said in a news release, which also said that Afghan national police had secured all roads in the area.

An unknown number of downtown buildings were on fire, with smoke billowing above. It was not immediately clear which buildings were burning.

Monday's assault followed weekend violence that killed at least three international troops and 14 militants in Afghanistan, authorities said.

Explosions, gunfire hit downtown Kabul - CNN.com

 

[Barrett]

 

[Barrett]

Reports of another suicide bomb explosion, numerous police and intelligence officers feared dead.

 

[Ahmad]

Explosions and gunfire rocked several parts of Kabul today as around two dozen *presumed Taliban militants launched a wave of co-ordinated and sustained attacks against government ministries and other targets in the Afghan capital.

At least three initial blasts were heard close to the finance and foreign ministries and the luxury Serena hotel, which is popular with foreigners and has been targeted before. Part of the hotel was later reported to be on fire following a suspected suicide bomb attack.

Around two hours later another large blast was heard, reportedly near a cinema in a district south of the presidential palace.

Afghan security officials told Reuters that several police were killed when a suicide car bomb was detonated outside the Gulbahar shopping mall, near the foreign ministry.

"At least 10 people who are suicide bombers are in several buildings, including in banks and shopping centres," one security officer, Amir Mohammad, told Reuters.

Gunfire echoed through the streets for more than two hours as Afghan police and soldiers attempted to track down what a Taliban spokesman said was a force of 20 armed militants, some of whom had occupied government buildings. Security forces attempted to evacuate the large section of the city centre, forcing back traffic and pedestrians, and closing shops and schools.

A statement from Nato forces in the country said several small blasts had been reported near the Feroshgah e Afghan shopping centre, and the Serena hotel.

"[Afghan security forces] have secured all roads in the vicinity, and initial reports are they have killed at least two armed insurgents at the shopping centre after clearing the building," it said.

Workers inside the finance ministry, including seven British nationals among a group of overseas staff, told the Guardian they had been ordered to lie on the floor and not look out of windows until Afghan police and soldiers had retaken the area.

Militants and security forces fought in several locations, while grenades were thrown into a supermarket in a shopping centre, government officials said. The central bank was also apparently under attack, with a loud explosion followed by gunfire.

The attack, on the day when the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, was due to swear in members of his new cabinet, is the latest brazen assault on the centre of the capital. In October at least 11 people died, including five UN staff, when gunmen stormed a guesthouse. The Serena hotel was hit by a rocket in that attack, although it failed to explode. Earlier that month a suicide car bomber struck outside the Indian embassy, killing at least 17 people.

 

[Ahmad]

i just called afghanistan because i am worried about my family. they told me there was alot of death and destructions, many innocent people might be killed.

 

[Barrett]

Thread exists. Mods kindly merge.

http://www.defence.pk/forums/world-...kers-gunmen-hit-central-kabul.html#post628680

 

[S-2]

"i just called afghanistan because i am worried about my family..."

You should be "while grenades were thrown into a supermarket in a shopping centre" by the brave, selfless and dedicated taliban.

Gutless. Lot of isolated military targets for them to attack but...

...they know better. They'd have their azzes handed to them in straight-up battle. Better to save the hard stuff for IEDs.

Bullets and grenades are fine when fighting supermarkets and shopping center warriors camoflagued as women and children. Why in God's name anybody in Pakistan believes there's a difference in these beasts is beyond my comprehension...

...but they do. Oh, how they desperately cling to that.

Thanks.

 

[Ahmad]

"i just called afghanistan because i am worried about my family..."

You should be "while grenades were thrown into a supermarket in a shopping centre" by the brave, selfless and dedicated taliban.

Gutless. Lot of isolated military targets for them to attack but...

...they know better. They'd have their azzes handed to them in straight-up battle. Better to save the hard stuff for IEDs.

Bullets and grenades are fine when fighting supermarkets and shopping center warriors camoflagued as women and children. Why in God's name anybody in Pakistan believes there's a difference in these beasts is beyond my comprehension...

...but they do. Oh, how they desperately cling to that.

Thanks.

They even didnt have mercy on shcool children in Baghlan province 2 years ago and killed many many of them. why should we expect mercy on the others from these B.astards.

 

[Kavin]

Smoke rises from a shopping mall after a Taliban attack in Kabul January 18, 2010. Taliban gunmen, some wearing suicide vests, launched a commando-style assault on Kabul on Monday, attacking banks, a shopping mall and Afghan government ministries

Smoke rises from a shopping mall as a policeman speaks on his radio after a Taliban attack in Kabul January 18, 2010

A video grab shows police forces leaving in a vehicle in Kabul January 18, 2010

A video grab shows a scene outside a hotel where there was a gun fight in Kabul January 18, 2010

Credit: REUTERS

 

[mjnaushad]

Sad incident. Is the firefight still going or they are being sent to hell already??

 

[mjnaushad]

"i just called afghanistan because i am worried about my family..."

You should be "while grenades were thrown into a supermarket in a shopping centre" by the brave, selfless and dedicated taliban.

Gutless. Lot of isolated military targets for them to attack but...

...they know better. They'd have their azzes handed to them in straight-up battle. Better to save the hard stuff for IEDs.

Bullets and grenades are fine when fighting supermarkets and shopping center warriors camoflagued as women and children. Why in God's name anybody in Pakistan believes there's a difference in these beasts is beyond my comprehension...

...but they do. Oh, how they desperately cling to that.

Thanks.

No offense but many civilian also died in NATO and US bombing runs. I never saw you saying that it was a sad incident.

 

[S-2]

"No offense but many civilian also died in NATO and US bombing runs. I never saw you saying that it was a sad incident."

Nobody has accused the U.S. or ISAF of ever intentionally targeting civilians. No offense, but I'd suggest your own armed forces have experienced the same. Civilians dying needlessly is always a tragedy. So's war and, as such, often unavoidable.

OTOH, last year over 2400 afghan civilians died because of this war. UNAMA has identified over 1600 of them at the hand of the taliban while all of ISAF (to include America) was less than 596. Nearly 3:1 ratio. Worse, HRW has documented the deliberate attack on civilians by the taliban while also documenting the use of civilians by the taliban as human shields.

There's frankly no comparison. Today was just another example of what the afghans know all too well.

Thanks.

 

[booo]

Kabul "under control" after brazen Taliban assault

By Hamid Shalizi and Sue Pleming

KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban gunmen launched a brazen assault on targets in the centre of Kabul on Monday, with suicide bombers blowing themselves up at several locations and heavily armed militants fighting a pitched battle in a shopping centre.

The insurgents failed in an apparent attempt to seize government buildings, but demonstrated their ability to cause mayhem at a time when U.S. President Barack Obama is trying to rally support for an expanded military mission to fight them.

It was the worst attack on the city in nearly a year. Gunfire and loud explosions shook the city and a huge column of smoke towered over its centre, pouring out of the shopping centre where gunmen battled security forces for hours.

After more than four hours of gunbattles, President Hamid Karzai said in a statement that "the security situation is under control and order has once again been restored".

The Taliban said 20 of their fighters were involved in the attacks, which they said targeted the presidential palace, justice ministry, ministry of mines and a presidential administrative building, all clustered in the centre of town.

When the attacks began outside Karzai's sprawling palace compound, he was inside swearing in new members of his cabinet.

"As we were conducting the ceremony of swearing in, a terrorist attack in a part of Kabul close to the presidential palace is going on. This is just one of the dangers," Karzai told ministers. "The danger that could harm Afghanistan is sowing national discord among Afghans."

U.S. envoy to the region Richard Holbrooke, who had left Kabul hours earlier for New Delhi, said: "The people who are doing this certainly will not survive the attack nor will they succeed, but we can expect this sort of a thing on a regular basis. That is who the Taliban are."

INITIATIVE

The attacks were a slap in the face for an initiative to lure Taliban fighters to lay down their arms, which Karzai plans to announce at an international conference in London this month.

The initiative is a key part of Obama's new strategy, which will also see 30,000 extra troops sent to turn the tide against a mounting insurgency.

A Reuters correspondent at the scene of the blazing shopping centre siege saw the body of a shopkeeper carried out. People wept over the body as gunshots could be heard ringing out.

Mohammad Shah, who had escaped the building where he keeps a shop, said the gunmen had stormed in after an explosion at the gate to the nearby presidential palace. Security guards evacuated civilians while the gunmen rushed to the higher floors.

Afghan forces recaptured the shopping centre after noon, killing five fighters there, a security source said. A Reuters reporter at the scene could still hear gunfire, and the head of the Kabul police criminal investigations department said battles were still underway behind the justice ministry building.

While the siege was on, a suicide car bomber exploded his vehicle outside another shopping centre nearby killing several police and security officials. A rocket later struck near a cinema hundreds of metres away.

Three suicide bombers loaded with grenades blew themselves up in different places: one near the education ministry, a second in a crowded square near the central bank and a third outside the shopping centre, a senior government official said.

Initial reports of casualties were only partial. NATO forces said at least two armed insurgents were killed. A security source said two guards were shot dead by the bombers as they stormed the Grand Shopping Centre. Another said three people had died.

Health Ministry spokesman Ahmad Farid Raeed said 18 wounded civilians had been transported to hospitals around the city. He did not have any information on how many people had been killed.

Government buildings and diplomatic offices in Kabul are heavily fortified but a series of attacks in the past year, including one which specificially targetted foreign U.N. employees, have underscored the city's vulnerability even at a time of unprecedented security.

Last Feburary, attackers stormed the justice ministry and other government buildings and Taliban fighters have mounted similar commando raids in other cities.

A Reuters reporter overheard security forces saying on a radio that the car bomber who struck the second shopping centre had driven a military ambulance, suggesting fighters may have posed as members of Afghan security forces or infiltrated them.

(Reporting by Sayed Salahuddin, Hamid Shalizi, Golnar Motevalli, Sue Pleming, Jonathon Burch and Emma Graham-Harrison; writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)