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| Mortars target Kabul's diplomatic area during Eid speech | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Militants have fired mortars at the diplomatic quarter of the Afghan capital Kabul during a speech by the president to mark a Muslim holiday. | |
| President Ashraf Ghani was speaking live on television to celebrate Eid al-Adha when explosions were heard near the presidential palace. | |
| A combat helicopter later fired on a building where militants are believed to have taken up position. | |
| Mr Ghani's call for an Eid ceasefire was rejected by Taliban militants. | Mr Ghani's call for an Eid ceasefire was rejected by Taliban militants. |
| As troops secured the area targeted, it was still not clear who had fired the rockets or if any casualties had been caused. | As troops secured the area targeted, it was still not clear who had fired the rockets or if any casualties had been caused. |
| Militants from both the Taliban and so-called Islamic State have carried out attacks in Afghanistan this month that left hundreds of people dead. | |
| Where were the mortars launched from? | |
| A Kabul police chief told the BBC that three attackers armed with a heavy machine gun and a mortar had broken into a building behind Kabul's Id Gah Mosque. | |
| According to the police chief, the attackers first used the mortar against the presidential palace. | |
| A number of explosions were heard in the background as President Ghani was delivering his Eid message. | |
| Security forces are fighting the militants in the building, which was rocketed by the helicopter. |