Rockets hit diplomatic area of Afghan capital
ISIS struck the Afghan capital Kabul yesterday in an hourslong attack in which parts of the city were hit with mortar fire, sparking clashes with security forces who used air strikes to break up the assault.
Military helicopters above a mosque targeted nine militants who fired about 30 rockets from two locations in the Eidgah mosque area of the old quarter, wounding six people.
The attack was near the presidential palace as President Ashraf Ghani addressed the nation on the first day of the Eid Al Adha holiday, and came days after he offered the Taliban a conditional threemonth ceasefire.
People who had been buying livestock for Eid celebrations sprinted for shelter.
Mr Ghani paused as the blasts were heard near by, before saying, “There are groups that continue the violence, but with the firing of rockets they cannot stop the people of Afghanistan’s development.”
“This nation is not going to bow to these rocket attacks.”
The attackers were in a building behind the mosque, which was partially destroyed in an attack several years ago and was not believed to have been used for Eid.
A spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Bahar Mehr, said on Facebook that security forces were also defusing two explosives-packed vehicles during the fighting.
Police said the clashes began about 9am.
Also yesterday, the Taliban released more than 160 civilians for Eid Al Adha a day after they were abducted from three buses in the north of the country.
At least 20 soldiers and policemen remain captive, an official said.