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| Afghanistan | ||
| Gunmen dressed as US soldiers attack Afghan Interior Ministry | ||
| 2018-06-01 | ||
It’s not clear who carried out the attack — one of at least three that occurred in Afghanistan on Wednesday — that targeted the Interior Ministry’s compound a few hundred yards from Kabul’s airport and a coalition air base where Americans and their allies train Afghan forces. Just after midday, a car bomb exploded at the entrance to the ministry compound, said Hashmat Stanekzai, spokesman for Kabul police. “After that, several gunmen tried to get into the ministry, but they faced resistance by our security forces,” he said. “The attackers were not able to enter the ministry.” The firefight ended a little more than two hour later, he said, and all the gunmen had been killed. He could not say how many other casualties there were besides the assailants. At least one of the attackers was captured, Gen. John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in the country, told reporters at the Pentagon via video conference later in the day. But Nicholson disputed claims by the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate that it was responsible for the attack. Both the Taliban and ISIS have carried out attacks that have left hundreds dead in recent months. The Taliban, however, had not claimed responsibility for the attack. The tactics smacked more of the Taliban’s Haqqani network, Nicholson said, referring to a brutal branch of the insurgent group considered its most capable. For example, their use of American uniforms and their targeting of a government facility. “We have seen [American] uniforms used in the past,” the American general said. “It’s been well over a year since we’ve seen that.” ISIS attacks tend to be person-borne, involving suicide vests, and indiscriminate, often targeting Shiite minorities in the country. The use of military uniforms and a vehicle was a concern, Nicholson said, as it might cause a hesitation or delay in responding to the attack. However, he said the Afghans responded as they should have. “They did exactly what they were supposed to do,” he said. The guards at the gate recognized that the uniforms were dated versions of those worn by U.S. soldiers and demanded the attackers exit the vehicle. That’s when the fighting started, Nicholson said, and one of the attackers detonated a suicide vest, killing himself and some of his fellow gunmen.
Seven gunmen had attempted to enter the compound, said Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish. One police officer was killed and five were wounded, he said. Washington Post reporter Dan Lamothe said on Twitter that the nearby coalition base was locked down for about an hour after the attack. In a later tweet, he said there were concerns that an attacker in a U.S. military uniform was on the base and that head counts were underway. There was no breach of the NATO compound, said Lt. Col. Martin O’Donnell, a spokesman for the coalition in Kabul. He said all coalition troops had been accounted for after the attack. Two other attacks occurred elsewhere in Afghanistan on Wednesday. In eastern Logar province, suicide bombers attacked a police station in the morning, killing at least three police officers, including the station’s commander and the deputy director of traffic police for the provincial capital, Pul-e Alam, local media reported. A suicide car bomb was set off at the gates before three gunmen in suicide vests stormed the compound. Four more police officers and eight civilians were wounded in the attack. Among the wounded were two children, the media reported. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. | ||
| Posted by:Fred |