Taliban gunmen with suicide vests and rockets launched spectacular, coordinated attacks in Kabul Tuesday, targeting the US embassy and Nato’s headquarters and killing at least seven people.
By late yesterday Afghan forces had not managed to end the siege after ten hours and at least ten heavy explosions. Some insurgents were still holed up in the high-rise building under construction from where the attacks were launched.
The stand-off dragged into the night after a day of chaos in the Afghan capital, considered safer than many other parts but the scene of several recent brazen strikes on Western and Afghan targets, ten years into the war.
Interior ministry spokesman Siddiq Siddiqui said that four civilians and three police had been killed in the main wave of attacks plus three linked smaller incidents, while 10 civilians and nine police were hurt.
A journalist from Afghan state broadcaster RTA was also shot and wounded while covering the standoff, an AFP reporter at the scene said.
Speaking from the building where insurgents were clinging on, Mr Siddiqui said Afghan forces working alongside Nato-led troops were using night-vision goggles to hunt for the remaining gunmen in the evening darkness.
“The area has not been cleared out. Police are searching the building, there are one or two attackers still alive,” he said.
“The attackers are throwing grenades. We are very careful we don’t incur losses,” Mr Siddiqui added, explaining why the operation was taking so long.
At the US embassy, which blared out warnings for staff to take cover and avoid standing near windows as the attacks unfolded, spokesman Kerri Hannan said that there were no deaths or injuries among the hundreds of staff.
In a later statement, the embassy confirmed the attacks involved “RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) and small arms fire” and that four Afghans had been injured – three who were applying for visas and a local security guard.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton vowed that the “brave” Americans who work at the embassy would not be put off by such attacks. “They will not be intimidated by this kind of cowardly attack,” she said.
“We will take all necessary steps not only to ensure the safety of our people but to secure the area and to ensure that those who perpetrated this attack are dealt with.”
The giant, high security US embassy compound borders the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) compound where thousands of foreign troops live and work.
A spokesman for ISAF, Lieutenant Colonel Jimmie Cummings, said that there had been no casualties among its personnel.
“We have a few rounds from small arms and some indirect fire that landed in our compound,” Lt Cummings said. “There was minor damage but no casualties.”