Taliban attacks Kabul’s presidential palace, CIA, ISAF HQ, Ministry of Defense, international hotel

11 years ago | Posted in: Latest Politics News | 1110 Views

Taliban has launched an attack in central Kabul, targeting the presidential palace, the CIA and ISAF headquarters, the Ministry of Defense, as well as an international hotel. All the assailants have been killed in the 90-minute showdown.

A Reuters reporter who was at the palace to cover a presser by president Karzai along with some 20 other journalists said heavy gunfire was heard, and smoke from an explosion had blanketed the area.

First of all, one insurgent reportedly opened fire with an automatic rifle at a gate to the palace.

Then, palace guards, as well as guards from the adjacent CIA compound, reportedly fired back when several attackers fired on the west gate as journalists were waiting to enter the compound for the president’s press conference.

All the insurgents were killed in the 90-minute showdown, according to Kabul police chief Mohammad Ayoub Salangi.

It was not immediately clear whether Karzai was in the compound at the time. The area of the city where the attack took place is the site of several important organizations, including the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, as well as the headquarters for the CIA and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

The American Embassy in Kabul was reportedly placed on lockdown, with ISAF confirming a lockdown over its Twitter feed; other facilities in the area are said to be under lockdown as well. According to the BBC, SMS messages were sent on behalf of the Taliban stating that targets were the presidential palace, the Ministry of Defense, as well as the Ariana Hotel, which is popular with international visitors.

The CIA building in central Kabul was reported to be on fire shortly after the attack, according to 1TV News, a local news broadcaster.

Ambassador James Dobbins, the US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, was currently in Kabul after returning from Doha over the weekend, where talks with the Taliban were derailed after the insurgent group opened an embassy-like compound, declaring it the ‘Political Office of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.’

Taliban officials stated that the newly opened office in Qatar was a response to calls by opponents for the launch of a political process to reach some measure of peace, and end three decades of fighting in Afghanistan.

source: RT

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