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Taliban attacks

September 13, 2011

Police sources say explosions have been heard in the western part of Kabul as the Taliban carry out attacks on government buildings. NATO secretary general says it is an attempt to derail the handover to Afghan security.

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The British Council in Kabul was last attacked on August 19, 2011
The British Council in Kabul was last attacked on August 19, 2011Image: dapd

Blasts and gunfire echoed through the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Tuesday, targeting government buildings near the embassy district. Four or five militants were firing from a building in the centre of Kabul in a Taliban attack on targets including NATO's coalition headquarters next to the US Embassy Tuesday, Afghan police said.

"There are four or five people, fighting is under way. They're in the building. They have mortars rockets and guns," said Kabul criminal investigations police chief Mohammad Zahir.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said the Taliban attacks were an attempt to derail plans to hand over security responsibility to Afghan forces in Afghanistan.

"We are following the events closely; we have confidence in the Afghan authorities' ability to deal with this situation," Rasmussen told reporters in Brussels. He said the Taliban were trying "to test the transition but they can't stop it. Transition is on track and it will continue."

Author: Sarah Berning (Reuters, AFP)
Editor: Manasi Gopalakrishnan

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