Links
Kabul paralyzed by bombings, shootouts with Taliban fighters
A small but determined squad of at least seven attackers laid siege to the heart of the Afghan capital Monday morning, detonating explosives, hurling grenades and engaging in a fierce four-hour gun battle with security forces in one of the most brazen insurgent assaults on Kabul in at least a year.
The attacks left two civilians and five members of the Afghan security forces dead and 71 people wounded, 35 of them civilians, according to senior Afghan security officials. The officials said most of the injuries were caused by grenade blasts. All seven assailants died in the assaults.
The siege once again highlighted the vulnerability of Kabul, where bombings and other attacks have become relatively common.
Afghan police, with the backing of the Afghan National Army, are responsible for security in the capital. But the training of Afghan security forces, here and throughout the country, remains a major concern for U.S. and NATO officials.
After the attacks ended Monday, the police seemed at times overwhelmed by the crowds of onlookers as they pushed to get closer to the scene. At one point, nervous policemen began firing volleys from automatic weapons in the air and aiming weapons directly at the onlookers to push them back. A plainclothes police officer angrily waved his pistol at a crowd of journalists and pointed it at the head of an American photographer who he thought was standing too close to a barricade.