Afghan forces kill 5 Taliban militants
30 March 2014 11:18 PM GMT
An Afghan interior ministry official says five militants who attacked the election commission headquarters in Kabul with rocket propelled grenades and machine guns have been killed, ending a four-hour standoff.
Deputy Interior Minister Mohammed Ayub Salangi says two policemen were injured in the attack on Saturday. There were no casualties among the dozens of Independent Election Commission staff and other people on the heavily fortified compound. Salangi said the five insurgents wore the all-encompassing burqua to sneak unnoticed into a building that looked onto the heavily fortified Independent Election Commission headquarters.
It’s the latest in a series of high-profile attacks that come as the Islamic militant movement steps up a campaign of violence to disrupt presidential elections due to be held in a week.
But two warehouses were hit and set on fire, witnesses said. The Kabul airport, which is on the edge of the IEC compound, closed its runway because of possible dangers to planes as Afghan security forces surrounded the occupied house and traded gunfire with the attackers.
A spokesman for the Independent Election Commission said security already had been increased around the compound because an attack had been widely expected, and all IEC staff members were safe. He said the IEC leadership was away from the headquarters when the assault began.
Explosions were heard when the attack started, according to the spokesman Noor Mohammed Noor, but he did not know what caused them.
Kabul police chief Mohammad Zahir Zahir said three or four attackers were holed up in a neighboring house that had been empty when they occupied it. He said the house is about 800 meters away from the headquarters, which is inside a walled off compound guarded by a series of watch towers and checkpoints. He said police were firing at the building from several directions and had the attackers contained.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack but described what would have been a much more ambitious assault, claiming a suicide bomber and gunmen had stormed the IEC compound. He said the IEC and election observers, including foreigners, were holding a meeting at the time of the attack. The Taliban frequently exaggerate in their statements and a meeting could not immediately be confirmed.
Noor denied there was a meeting of observers. A news conference had been planned to discuss election security, but that was canceled, he said. The deputy of the IEC’s media monitoring commission, Ashmat Radfar, who was in the building and fled to the basement with about 40 other people when the attack began. About 15 rocket-propelled grenades had fallen in the area and two warehouses were hit and set on fire, he told reporters after he managed to leave the compound. He said the warehouses did not contain ballots or other important election materials.
Airport authorities said they closed the runway for two hours after the attack started, then tried to reopen it but decided the risk was too high and closed it again. Airport director Yaqoub
Rassouli said Emirates airlines and Air India flights had been diverted.
Deputy Interior Minister Mohammed Ayub Salangi says two policemen were injured in the attack on Saturday. There were no casualties among the dozens of Independent Election Commission staff and other people on the heavily fortified compound. Salangi said the five insurgents wore the all-encompassing burqua to sneak unnoticed into a building that looked onto the heavily fortified Independent Election Commission headquarters.
It’s the latest in a series of high-profile attacks that come as the Islamic militant movement steps up a campaign of violence to disrupt presidential elections due to be held in a week.
But two warehouses were hit and set on fire, witnesses said. The Kabul airport, which is on the edge of the IEC compound, closed its runway because of possible dangers to planes as Afghan security forces surrounded the occupied house and traded gunfire with the attackers.
A spokesman for the Independent Election Commission said security already had been increased around the compound because an attack had been widely expected, and all IEC staff members were safe. He said the IEC leadership was away from the headquarters when the assault began.
Explosions were heard when the attack started, according to the spokesman Noor Mohammed Noor, but he did not know what caused them.
Kabul police chief Mohammad Zahir Zahir said three or four attackers were holed up in a neighboring house that had been empty when they occupied it. He said the house is about 800 meters away from the headquarters, which is inside a walled off compound guarded by a series of watch towers and checkpoints. He said police were firing at the building from several directions and had the attackers contained.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack but described what would have been a much more ambitious assault, claiming a suicide bomber and gunmen had stormed the IEC compound. He said the IEC and election observers, including foreigners, were holding a meeting at the time of the attack. The Taliban frequently exaggerate in their statements and a meeting could not immediately be confirmed.
Noor denied there was a meeting of observers. A news conference had been planned to discuss election security, but that was canceled, he said. The deputy of the IEC’s media monitoring commission, Ashmat Radfar, who was in the building and fled to the basement with about 40 other people when the attack began. About 15 rocket-propelled grenades had fallen in the area and two warehouses were hit and set on fire, he told reporters after he managed to leave the compound. He said the warehouses did not contain ballots or other important election materials.
Airport authorities said they closed the runway for two hours after the attack started, then tried to reopen it but decided the risk was too high and closed it again. Airport director Yaqoub
Rassouli said Emirates airlines and Air India flights had been diverted.
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