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| Afghanistan |
| 15 Dead and 55 Wounded in Kabul Attacks |
| 2010-01-19 |
| [Quqnoos] At least 15 people have been killed and 55 wounded in explosions and gunfire as 20 gunmen launched attacks in Kabul. Taliban militants, including some with suicide vests, stormed government and civilian targets in the Afghan capital on Monday as some members of President Hamid Karzai's cabinet were being sworn in. A purported Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said the armed militants entered Kabul to target the presidential palace, other government buildings and the luxury Serena Hotel. Explosions and heavy machine-gun fire rattled the city for nearly 6 hours on Monday. "The Afghan security forces have gunned down 10 militants and the city is now under control," a Defence Ministry Spokesman, Gen Zahir Azimi, told Quqnoos. The 15 dead includes three civilians and two Afghan policemen, Mr Azimi added. At least 10 Afghan soldiers, 10 policemen and 35 civilians were wounded in the attacks. Police have sealed off the city centre and sent snipers onto rooftops after the blasts, which the militants said were aimed at the presidential palace, government ministries and the central bank. A group of gunmen later attacked Qari Sami shopping centre in the centre of city, which was later set on fire as Afghan Special Forces and the militants exchanged fire. "I was stuck inside the shopping centre and bullets surrounded me, It was horrible," said a Kabul resident, Mohammad Nabi, 43. Later on, a suicide bomber detonated his car bomb at another shopping mall, the Gulbahar Centre, neighbouring the Afghan foreign and interior ministries. Helicopters whirled overhead as hundreds of Afghan forces blocked roads in the central Kabul. 'Talk to the Taliban' The attack is believed the biggest militant operation in the fortified Afghan capital since the collapse of the Taliban regime in 2001. It happens a day after US Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, said President Karzai is forming a "reintegration plan" with the Taliban and expected to announce it in London Conference next week. Taliban has rejected any negotiation with the Afghan government unless the foreign troops are pulled out of the country. A few hours after the bombings, President Karzai in a statement assured "the inhabitants of Kabul that the security situation is under control and order has once again been restored." President Karzai condemned the "terrorist attacks" nearby his palace and in other parts of the city centre. Holrbooke has also condemned it, saying, "It's not surprising that the Taliban do this sort of thing. They are desperate people, they are ruthless." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 WORLD NEWS > TALIBAN [TTP], LeT PLANNING TO ATTACK MAJOR PAK PUNJAB CITIES? * ION SAME > [Jharmakand]MAOISTS THREATEN POOR VILLAGERS FROM ORGANIZING WEEKLY FOOD MARKETS, fearing locals will end up supplying food, etc. to opposing Govt. Police-Army forces. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-01-19 02:21 |
| #1 "I don't need foreign troops" Karsai. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2010-01-19 01:47 |