ISIS targets Iraqi Embassy in Kabul, killing 2; attackers dead
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Islamic State group targeted the Iraqi Embassy in Kabul on Monday, with a suicide bomber blowing himself up outside the gates, followed by three gunmen who stormed into the building. The assault set off a four-hour firefight that ended only after Afghan security forces said they had killed all the attackers.
Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish told reporters that two Afghan employees of the Iraq Embassy died in the attack. Three police were injured, he said.
As the attack unfolded there were conflicting reports of casualties, with a witness saying he saw bodies of at least two policemen lying on the road outside the embassy soon after the attack began.
In its claim of responsibility, the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, said its fighters had killed seven guards, but the militant group often exaggerates its claims of casualties inflicted.
The attack by Islamic State group was likely meant to draw attention from the militants’ extensive losses in Iraq and Syria in recent weeks.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack and said it was the government’s responsibility to provide protection to international missions.
The attack began with a big explosion that rocked central Kabul shortly before noon, followed by gunfire that lasted for several hours, and two or three more large explosions.
Police quickly cordoned off the area, barring reporters from coming too close to the scene.
The Iraq Embassy is located outside the socalled green zone where most foreign embassies and diplomatic missions are located and which is heavily fortified with a phalanx of guards and giant cement blast walls.