ISIL claims responsibility for attack on spy training centre in Afghan capital

ISIL militants attacked an intelligence agency training centre in Kabul yesterday.

Security forces battled the militants, who were besieged in a building site at the national directorate of security, for hours before killing at least two of them.

Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid said two police officers were injured but there were no civilian casualties.

“I was going towards my school,” said Naweed, a student. “It happened suddenly.

“The police arrived in the area fast and blocked the roads, not allowing anyone to get to their homes.

ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack.

“Two ISIL attackers raid the Afghan intelligence centre in Kabul,” its Amaq media unit said.

The Afghan capital has in recent months become one of the deadliest places in the country as the resurgent Taliban and increasingly active ISIL step up their attacks on security installations and mosques.

Security in Kabul has been strengthened since May 31, when a lorry bomb exploded in the city’s diplomatic quarter, killing about 150 people and wounding 400, most of them civilians.

No group has claimed responsibility for that attack, which the government blamed on the Taliban-allied Haqqani Network.

Yesterday’s attack was another blow to Afghan security.

The Taliban have targeted military installations in recent months, including a spate of attacks in October that killed about 150 people.

Afghan police and troops, already beset by desertions and corruption, have suffered as casualties soared to what a US watchdog has described as “shockingly high” levels since Nato forces ended their combat mission in 2014 and commenced a training and support role.

Last month, a suicide attacker blew himself up outside a political gathering in Kabul, killing 14 people in an attack that was claimed by the Taliban extremists.