KABUL: At least sevenpeople havebeen killed and more than 320wounded in a suicide bombing andattack by gunmen, claimed by the...
KABUL: At least sevenpeople havebeen killed and more than 320wounded in a suicide bombing andattack by gunmen, claimed by the Taliban, in the Afghan capitalon Tuesday, the Health Ministry said.
Civilians and members of the Afghan security forces wereamong those caught in the attack and casualty estimates areexpected to rise, ministry spokesman Ismail Kawosi said bytelephone.
The attack was aimed at a building that houses a securityservice that provides protection for government officials.
President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack "in thestrongest possible terms" in a statement from the presidentialpalace, only a few hundred metres away from the scene of theblast.
Several people were killed and wounded in the blast, whichstruck at the height of the morning peak hour, the palace said.
Gunfire rang out for more than 30 minutes after the blast,according to Reuters witnesses at the scene.
Pictures showedwindows blown out at the front of an office that houses aNational Directorate of Security (NDS) unit.
The U.S. embassy said it was not affected by the blast.
The NATO-led force also said it was unaffected.
The Taliban said on their Pashto-language website that theyhad carried out the suicide bombing on "Department 10", an NDSunit, which is responsible for protecting government ministersand VIPs.
They said a suicide car bomber blew up the main gate at thefront of the office, allowing other fighters, including moresuicide bombers, to enter the heavily guarded compound.
A separate statement by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahidsaid attackers were engaged in a gunbattle with Afghan securityforces inside the building.
It was not immediately possible to verify the details of theTaliban's claim with government officials.
Fighting has raged around the symbolically importantnorthern city of Kunduz in the week since the Taliban announcedtheir annual spring offensive, although the capital has beenrelatively quiet since the April 12 announcement.
Kunduz, Afghanistan´s fifth-largest city, fell briefly tothe Taliban last September in the biggest blow to Ghani'sgovernment since NATO-led forces ended their combat operations at the end of 2014.
The Taliban-led insurgency has gained strength since the withdrawal of international forces from combat at the end of 2014 and the Taliban are stronger than at any point since they were driven from power by U.S.-backed forces in 2001.