Suicide bombers, gunmen attack Kabul police stations
KABUL: Suicide bombers and gunmen launched apparently coordinated attacks on two Kabul police stations Wednesday, killing at least five people, with security forces still searching for several assailants as the city braces for more violence.
A series of loud explosions rocked the Afghan capital in the late morning and were quickly followed by volleys of gunfire as police engaged in fierce battles with militants.
The Taliban and Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks. But Afghanistan’s intelligence agency blamed the Taliban’s Haqqani Network and Pakistani militant group Lashkare-Taiba for both incidents.
At least five people were killed and 16 wounded in the attacks, health ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh told reporters.
Two police officers were also killed, the interior ministry said, but it was not immediately clear if they were included in the health ministry’s toll.
After an easing of attacks in Kabul in February, Taliban and IS militants have stepped up raids in the city in recent months.
IS claimed the first attack on a police station in a heavily Shiitepopulated neighbourhood in the city’s west, which police spokesman Hashmatullah Estanakzai told AFP had ended.
Interior minister Wais Barmak told reporters three attackers were killed in that incident, after they used grenades to set fire to a room in the police compound.
Two policemen were also killed and two others wounded, Barmak added. Majroh said four people were killed and nine wounded in that attack.
Ariana TV footage showed a thick plume of black smoke rising into the sky while a photo posted on Twitter purportedly of the west Kabul police station showed a building on fire.
The second attack, claimed by the Taliban, took place in front of a police station in Shar- e-Naw neighbourhood in downtown Kabul where special forces were still searching for them.
“A suicide bomber detonated his vest at the entrance of the street and a car dropped four other attackers nearby,” Barmak explained.
“One was killed by the police and three are still hiding in a building.”
Majroh said one person was killed and eight others wounded.
Estanakzai told AFP surrounding buildings had been evacuated but it was not clear if people were trapped inside with the attackers.
AFP correspondents heard a loud explosion in the late afternoon, which a police source said was caused by a suicide attacker blowing himself up.
A travel agency that handles Indian visa applications is located on the same street as the Shar- eNaw police station. The Indian embassy and some of its consulates in Afghanistan have previously been targeted by the Taliban.
“There were about 300 people inside Shaheer travel agency. Had the police not stopped the attackers they would have caused a disaster,” Barmak said. – AFP