Stop Fundamentalism – Suicide bombers attacked capital city of Afghanistan, Kabul, and at least three other provinces today, said a Taliban statement taking responsibility for a coordinated multi-attack on NATO headquarters, the Parliament, and embassies including U.S.’s among other central Kabul sites.
In Kabul at least 10 explosions rocked the capital city, reports AP.
The statement which was emailed to news agencies claimed that a large number of NATO forces and also Afghan police and army have been killed or wounded. The attacker carried suicide vests, rockets, heavy machineguns and hand grenades.
Reports from American and German embassies say that no one at these embassies has been hurt.
Iranian Fars News agency reported that gunmen, following an explosion near the Wazier Akbar Khan diplomatic region, took over a high-rise hotel nearby and attacked many sites in that vicinity from the rooftop of that hotel. The foreign military headquarters and American embassy came under rocket attacked from the rooftop of this hotel.
Also a building near the parliament was taken over by gunmen from whom they attempted to target the parliament building and the Russian embassy, Fars News.
An official at the parliament told reporters that “the Taliban sent a car bomb to the front of the parliament building. Two Afghan police officers were injured, when the car exploded.” But Taliban’s attempt to enter the parliament building failed, said the official.
The attacked took place concurrently in three provinces.
Taliban spokesman, Zabiholah Mojahed, told local reporters that the Taliban had prepared for these attacks for almost a month. “But the attack on only the beginning” of this groups spring attacks, said Mojahed.
According to Kabul hospital sources, at least five dead bodies have been turned in today in Kabul, but there is no indication of whether the bodies belong to attackers or the victims.
A government spokesman told news reporters the situation is under the control of Afghan security forces. “Special security measures have been put in place to calm the situation and safeguard security of Afghan citizens,” said Sediq Sediqi, Afghanistan’s’ state ministry’s spokesman.
In another report, Associated Press reported that about one hundred Taliban militants, armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades have fought their way into a prison in north of Pakistan releasing over 400 prisoners. At least twenty of the prisoners released are described by the police as “very dangerous,” says the AP report.
The attacks today are surly a display of power by Taliban.
