Gunmen attack intelligence training centre in Kabul
KABUL: Gunmen attacked an intelligence training centre in Kabul yesterday, officials said, as families buried loved ones killed by a suicide bomber a day earlier in the war-weary Afghan capital.
The attack on the training facility was the latest incident in a blood- soaked week that saw militants deliver crippling blows to government forces across Afghanistan.
“Clashes are ongoing and the area is cordoned off by the Afghan security forces,” said Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai.
The firefight erupted near a training centre overseen by the National Security Directorate – Afghanistan’s intelligence agency – with the gunmen holed up in a construction site near residential buildings, an official at the scene said.
Live television footage showed the area cordoned off with gunfire echoing through the empty streets, while humvees patrolled and a helicopter circled above.
Commandos were also deployed to the scene to help contain the fighting, according to another security official.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the incident.
The attack comes just hours after a suicide bomber detonated explosives inside an education centre in a predominantly Shiite area of western Kabul, where students were studying for college entrance exams, killing at least 37 people.
Loved ones and families of the dead held a mass funeral yesterday where mourners wept and clutched the wooden coffins.
An industrial- sized digger helped soften the arid ground for the fresh graves as men removed rocks from the soil with pickaxes.
Mourners decried the unrelenting bloodshed, while others dismissed murmurings of possible ceasefires and peace negotiations between the government and the Taliban.
“Death to your ceasefire and death to your ghost peace talks,” cried one of the funeral attendees.
“They are killing our educated people and everyday they are killing us.”
The surge in violence comes just weeks after Afghans marked an unprecedented country-wide ceasefire between the Taliban and government forces in June, giving some temporary relief to civilians.
The brief respite sparked hopes the truce could clear the way for talks to end the nearly 17-year- old conflict.
However, the devastating attacks across the country in recent days have led many to question how such negotiations could move ahead amid the bloodshed.
“Everyday we are witnessing deadly attacks in Kabul and other major cities. So, I believe the Taliban do not believe in peace talks,” said shopkeeper Shahenshah Shahin in Kabul.
Analysts have suggested the Taliban may be trying to shore up its position before any potential negotiations by proving they can hit government installations at will.