Afghan security forces have sealed off the centre of Kabul as they battle fighters who have barricaded themselves inside the offices of an international aid group.
The fighters launched an attack on a business and residential area of Kabul on Monday night, just hours after a Taliban suicide double bombing near the defence ministry building killed at least 24 people, including a number of senior Afghan security officials.
It remains unclear whether the offices of Pamlarena, the charity group, are the target of the attack.
After several hours of quiet overnight, sporadic gunfire and explosions were heard as day broke on Tuesday.
Security officials evacuated civilians from their offices and homes near the explosion site.
An interior ministry official said initial reports indicated one person had been killed and six wounded in the attack on the aid group’s offices, with 31 people rescued from the area.
Monday’s double bombing in Kabul, which killed 24 people and wounded 91 others, targeted an afternoon crowd near the defence ministry building.
The Taliban immediately claimed responsibility for that attack.
An army general and two senior police commanders were among the dead, a defence ministry official said.
Another official said the deputy head of President Ashraf Ghani’s personal protection force had also been killed.
The Taliban’s ability to conduct coordinated deadly attacks in Kabul has piled pressure on Ghani’s government, which has struggled to reassure a war-weary population that it can guarantee security.
Two weeks ago, fighters attacked the American University in Kabul, killing 13 people.
At least 80 people were killed by a suicide bomber who targeted a demonstration on July 23 in an attack claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.
Outside Kabul, the fighters have stepped up their military campaign, threatening Lashkar Gah, capital of the strategic southern province of Helmand, as well as Kunduz, the northern city they briefly took last year.(Al Jazeera)
Link: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/09/afghanistan-gun-battle-bombings-kabul-160906034756859.html
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