Suicide squad targets Afghan spy headquarters

Updated January 17, 2013 01:09:06

A squad of suicide bombers has attacked the Afghan intelligence agency headquarters in heavily-fortified central Kabul, killing at least one guard and wounding dozens of civilians.

All six attackers were killed in the brazen midday attack on the National Directorate of Security (NDS), which is playing an increasingly important role in the war against the Taliban as NATO forces prepare to withdraw next year.

The Taliban claimed responsibility in a text message to AFP, saying "a large number of intelligence workers were killed and wounded".

The NDS said one of the attackers detonated a suicide car bomb at the gate while five others got out of a second vehicle and tried to storm the complex on foot - suggesting that a major attack had been planned.

"One suicide attacker detonated one explosive-laden car in front of the entrance of the premises, obviously to pave the way for the five other attackers," spokesman Shafiqullah Taheri told a news conference.

"But after 10 minutes of fighting, they were all killed. We have only one soldier killed."

The second vehicle was rigged with a new kind of explosive for Afghanistan, based on a liquid gel, and was defused just three minutes before it was due to detonate, he said.

Thirty-three people including civilians and some NDS guards were taken to hospital.

The huge explosion was heard throughout Kabul's diplomatic district, and witnesses said windows were shattered in nearby Chicken Street, a popular shopping destination for Westerners.

AFP reporters said it was swarming with security forces moments after the attack.

'Major success'

Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi described the operation to thwart the attack as "an obvious major success for our security forces".

"Our forces managed to kill them all in 10 minutes with minimum casualties, which is a sign of how professional our forces have become," he said.

But an NDS official, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed concern at how the attackers had managed to penetrate one of the most heavily-guarded areas of the capital, which includes the police HQ and the Interior Ministry.

"It's a big facility and very, very sensitive, with a very high-security installation and system," he said.

A spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force said no international forces were targeted in the attack.

The attack follows a December 6 incident in which a suicide bomber posing as a Taliban peace envoy wounded NDS chief Asadullah Khalid at a spy agency guest house elsewhere in the capital.

Mr Khalid is still undergoing treatment in the United States.

Afghan police and other security forces are increasingly targets of Taliban attacks as they take a bigger role in the fight before the NATO withdrawal.

The NDS plays a crucial role in the fight against the Taliban, who have been waging an insurgency since being ousted from power by the 2001 US-led invasion for harbouring al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Its influence on the conduct of the war is likely to grow as the US and NATO withdraw the bulk of their 100,000 combat troops from the country by end-2014 and hand responsibility for the war to Afghan forces.

After 11 years of war and claims by the US-led NATO force that the insurgency has been weakened, Kabul is regularly attacked in the Taliban's bid to oust the NATO-backed government of president Hamid Karzai.

They also remain active in their traditional strongholds in the south and east of the country, and there are widespread fears of a new multi-factional civil war once the international troops leave.


Topics: terrorism, unrest-conflict-and-war, afghanistan

First posted January 16, 2013 23:37:02