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| Taliban strikes in heart of Kabul in deadly attack on elite agency | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| KABUL — Taliban militants attacked a government security agency with a suicide bomb and gunfire Tuesday, killing perhaps more than two dozen people and wounding more than 320 others in one of the most devastating attacks in Kabul in years, Afghan officials said. | |
| The target was an elite Afghan intelligence unit tasked with protecting senior government politicians — a direct strike against the Western-aided government a week after the Taliban announced its spring offensive. | |
| [Taliban vows “large-scale” attacks] | |
| The attack ended several weeks of relative calm in the Afghan capital and is one of the biggest attacks to rock the Afghan capital in years. | |
| It began when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the gates of the agency, touching off a three-hour gun battle less than a mile away from the presidential palace and the Ministry of Defense in a densely-populated part of the city. | |
| The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility. | |
| Afghan President Ashraf Ghani quickly condemned the attack, saying in a statement that it was a sign that insurgents cannot defeat Afghan forces in a “face-to-face battle.” | Afghan President Ashraf Ghani quickly condemned the attack, saying in a statement that it was a sign that insurgents cannot defeat Afghan forces in a “face-to-face battle.” |
| [The pull of the Taliban’s hard-line rule] | |
| The Afghan Ministry of Health said seven people were killed and 327 wounded, mostly civilian passersby. But a police spokesman reached by phone put the death toll at nearly 30. | The Afghan Ministry of Health said seven people were killed and 327 wounded, mostly civilian passersby. But a police spokesman reached by phone put the death toll at nearly 30. |
| Most of the casualties were caused by the explosives in a small truck adjacent to the agency, spokesman Basir Mujahid said. | Most of the casualties were caused by the explosives in a small truck adjacent to the agency, spokesman Basir Mujahid said. |
| “The death toll is between 28 and 30,” he said by phone. | “The death toll is between 28 and 30,” he said by phone. |
| After the blast, assailants apparently made their way inside the agency compound as the gun battle raged. The impact of the explosion shattered windows and cracked the facades of nearby shops and businesses, according to witnesses. | |
| The Taliban announced the start of their spring offensive April 12. Fighting has since flared around the northern city of Kunduz, Afghanistan’s fifth-largest city, but Kabul had remained relatively quiet. | |
| Kunduz fell briefly to the Taliban last September. That marked the biggest setback to the government of Ashraf Ghani since NATO-led forces ended their combat operations in Afghanistan at the end of 2014. | Kunduz fell briefly to the Taliban last September. That marked the biggest setback to the government of Ashraf Ghani since NATO-led forces ended their combat operations in Afghanistan at the end of 2014. |
| Daniela Deane in London contributed to this report. | |
| Read more: | Read more: |
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| Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world | Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world |