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Taliban Launch Deadly Attack in Kabul Taliban Launch Deadly Attack in Kabul
(about 7 hours later)
KABUL — At least four suicide bombers launched a daring and sophisticated attack on the heart of the Afghan government early Tuesday morning, using at least two land cruisers similar to those used by international soldiers here, fake badges and vehicle passes, which allowed at least one to get inside the heavily guarded area, according to Kabul’s deputy police chief. KABUL, Afghanistan — The third in a series of audacious strikes by the Taliban in the capital in recent weeks came early Tuesday, when one of two vehicles carrying attackers and explosives penetrated one of the most secure areas of Kabul, near the presidential palace and a C.I.A. compound, officials said.
The Taliban sent a statement taking responsibility for the attack and saying the targets were the Ariana Hotel, which they said was the Central Intelligence Agency base in Kabul, and the presidential palace. Though the attackers caused relatively little loss of life — three private guards were killed — the assault’s progress past a major checkpoint troubled many. There were ripples far beyond the capital, as well. Afghan officials with the government’s High Peace Council said the attack would further jeopardize any hopes of salvaging a stalled effort to open negotiations with the Taliban in Qatar.
The attack came just days after the Taliban opened an office in Doha, Qatar, ostensibly for starting negotiations about a peace process. It raised new questions about divisions within the Taliban and whether there was any broad commitment to peace. “Today’s attack will definitely have a negative impact on the peace talks,” said Musa Hotak, a member of the council. “The only conclusion from today’s attack that I can draw is that the Taliban want to put pressure on the Afghan government to accept their preconditions for talks and give up on some of its preconditions.”
At least five people were killed in the attack. For the first half-hour of the attack, which began about 6:30 a.m., gunfire could be heard across the Green Zone diplomatic area of Kabul, the location of the presidential palace and the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force. The Afghan delegation to the talks remains in the country, stalled after Taliban envoys appeared to be using the opening of their political office in Doha to establish a higher international profile and stage a publicity coup. Though the Taliban later removed a flag and a sign that the Afghan government found offensive, the continued pattern of attacks within Afghanistan has kept the chill in place.
It was unclear exactly how far the attackers had gotten into the Green Zone, but the gunfire and explosions could be heard throughout the area. Tuesday’s attack, less than two weeks after a suicide bomber killed 17 people near the Supreme Court and a little more than two weeks after an attack on Kabul airport, underscored the capital’s continuing vulnerability.
“Three suicide bombers were driving a land cruiser packed with explosives with a fake vehicle pass and they wanted to enter the presidential palace area, but they were stopped at the gate,” the police chief, Gen. Ayoub Salangi, said in a brief telephone call. “We don’t know their main target.” “The tempo is quite relentless,” said one Western official here.
Once the guards realized that the pass was fake, the suicide bombers got out of the explosive-laden car and one of them detonated it, killing one of the attackers. The others got into a firefight with the guards, General Salangi said. However, people in the Afghan security forces who asked not to be identified said that there were two vehicles that got through a heavily guarded gate used only by ministerial-level officials. In the latest attack, the militants used the sole entrance to the secured area that had only one entry checkpoint. The other entrances have multiple barriers spaced at least 100 feet apart where vehicles and passengers are scrutinized, another Western official said.
A government official told Reuters that three or four other attackers were killed by security forces and at least two Afghan security guards were killed in the firefight. Driving two vehicles with counterfeit vehicle passes and wearing international-style military uniforms, the militants approached the eastern gate to the government Green Zone early Tuesday, according to Kabul’s deputy police chief, Gen. Daoud Amin.
The American ambassador to Afghanistan, James B. Cunningham, assailed the violence and urged the Taliban to once again return to the peace process in Doha. The first vehicle got inside, driving about 100 yards until it was close to one of the entrances of the C.I.A. compound. But the second was stopped by the checkpoint guards, who began shooting at the insurgents, according to both Afghan and international security officials. In early reports by Afghan officials, they said that the Taliban were driving sport utility vehicles that resembled those used by international forces here, but late Tuesday, some Western officials said that at least one of the vehicles was a smaller car.
“We remain steadfast in supporting the Afghan government and people against the scourge of terrorism and the violence directed against them,” he said. The insurgents in the second vehicle began shooting, and at least one detonated his suicide vest. Three private security guards were killed and one was wounded, said Sediq Sediqi, the Interior Ministry spokesman.
In the meantime, the attackers in the vehicle that had entered the secure area were killed either by Afghan or Western guards during a long firefight near the C.I.A. compound’s gate. That compound was not breached, an American official said.
The total number of Taliban attackers was still unclear late Tuesday, but international officials put the number at between 8 and 10, while the Afghan authorities said there were five.

Sharifullah Sahak, Sangar Rahimi and Habib Zahori contributed reporting.

Sharifullah Sahak, Sangar Rahimi and Habib Zahori contributed reporting.