Rockets fired near Afghan leader’s palace
BOOM OF EXPLOSIONS HEARD IN THE LIVE BROADCAST OF PRESIDENT GANI’S SPEECH
The Taliban fired a pair of rockets yesterday towards the presidential palace in Kabul as the Afghan president was delivering his holiday message for the Muslim celebrations of Eid Al Adha, police said, prompting a ferocious aerial response with helicopter gunships bombing the house from where the rockets were reportedly launched.
The first rocket landed somewhere near the presidency building while the second hit near a Nato compound and the US Embassy but no one was hurt, said police official Jan Agha.
The boom of the rockets was heard in the live broadcast of President Ashraf Gani’s speech. As he also heard the thud, Gani interrupted his message to say: “If they are thinking the rocket attack will keep Afghans down, they are wrong.”
The Kabul area where the rockets hit is one of the most secure in the Afghan capital, where embassies and government buildings are surrounded by high cement blast walls and coils of razor wire.
Many streets near the US embassy are closed off, as well as those near sensitive government and military locations.
Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanekzia said Afghan police had noticed a suspicious vehicle earlier yesterday and followed it to a mud-brick house near the sprawling Eid Gah mosque where hundreds had gathered to for Eid Al Adha.
Once inside the house, the suspects are believed to have fired the rockets, Stanekzia said. A helicopter gunship was called in and bombed the location, destroying the house and the vehicle. Eyewitnesses at the scene said that after the explosions, sporadic shooting could be heard from the area, though it wasn’t clear who was firing. The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity fearing for their safety. offer prayers
Blow to peace efforts
Another police official, Mohammad Akram, said four attackers were apparently involved though it was unclear if any survived the helicopter assault on the house. Police were combing the area in the heart of Kabul, where crowded openair markets intrude on old residential areas of mostly poor, mud-brick homes.
Shortly afterward, all the attackers were killed, said Interior Ministry spokesman Najeeb Danish. Two members of the Afghan security forces were wounded in the firefight, which also ignited a market nearby, setting it on fire, he said.
There was no immediate statement from the Taliban, or a claim of responsibility for the attack by any other militant group, but the assault was another blow to Gani’s efforts to bring the insurgents to the negotiation table and hold peace talks to end the 17-year war. ■ ■