Taliban attack on NATO supplier leaves 12 dead

Bold strike shows Taliban not ready to end violence.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — A suicide truck bomber followed by heavily armed men stormed a NATO supplier’s compound Tuesday in Kabul, prompting a gun battle that left a dozen people dead in the latest Taliban attack on a high-profile target in the Afghan capital.

The bold strikes have signaled the Islamic militant movement has no plans to suspend its campaign of violence even though they have agreed to embark on a U.S.-led peace process.

The violence began before dawn when the bomber drove a small truck packed with explosives to the outer gate of the logistics center used to supply NATO troops and detonated it, Kabul provincial po- lice Chief Mohammad Ayoub Salangi said. The explosion left a huge crater in the ground and damaged a guard tower.

Two truck drivers waiting to enter the compound were killed in the blast along with the bomber, he said. Then four gunmen stormed into the breach and battled security guards and an Afghan police special response team for about an hour. The attackers were all killed, along with one Afghan and four Nepalese security guards, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The British government confirmed that a U.K. national had been killed in the attack, but it could not say whether the victim was one of the truck drivers or a security guard or contractor.

The Taliban opened a political office in the Qatari capital of Doha last month, indicating they were prepared to enter into Afghan peace talks, an effort that has taken on added urgency as the U.S. and its allies prepare to withdraw combat forces by the end of next year. But the movement did not renounce violence.

“This (attack) has no link to the peace process,” Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said and promised that attacks “will continue all over the country occupied by the foreigners.”

The Taliban have persisted with their campaign of violence since opening the Doha office June 18.