Insurgents attack Kabul’s intelligence training centre
BLOODSOAKED WEEK Gunmen holed up near residential buildings KABUL:
Gunmen attacked an intelligence training centre in Kabul on Thursday, 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 humvees patrolling the empty streets while gunfire echoed and a helicopter circling 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 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. AFP