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43 killed in Kabul govt compound attack
KABUL, Dec 25, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – An hours-long gun and suicide attack on a
Kabul government compound killed at least 43 people, the health ministry said
Tuesday, making it one of the deadliest assaults on the Afghan capital this
year.
No militant group has claimed responsibility for the raid, which caps a
bloody year for Afghanistan as long-suffering civilians and security forces
are slaughtered in record numbers.
Another 10 people were wounded in Monday’s massacre on a site where the
Ministry of Public Works and an office that handles pensions and benefits for
war veterans are located, spokesman Waheed Majroh said.
Gunmen stormed the compound mid-afternoon after detonating a car bomb at
the entrance, sending terrified government workers running for their lives.
Some jumped from windows several floors high to escape the militants.
Hundreds more were trapped inside buildings for hours as heavily armed
security forces swarmed the area, engaging the attackers in a fierce gun
battle punctuated by multiple explosions.
At least four militants, including the suicide bomber, were killed and
more than 350 people freed, officials said. Most of the dead and wounded were
civilians, who have borne the brunt of the 17-year war.
It was the deadliest assault in the Afghan capital since a suicide bomber
blew himself up in the middle of a religious gathering last month, killing at
least 55 people.
President Ashraf Ghani, whose government has been skewered over its
security failures, said “terrorists attack civilian targets to hide their
defeat on the battleground”.
Afghanistan’s de facto prime minister Abdullah Abdullah also sounded a
defiant note as he blamed the Taliban for the attack.
“Every attack they carry out against our people, our resolve is further
strengthened to eliminate them,” he said.
But their statements belie the grim reality on the battlefield where the
Taliban have the upper hand.
Afghanistan’s largest militant group has made significant territorial
gains this year as its fighters inflict record casualties on government
forces.
– US staying the course? –
The raid followed a tumultuous few days in Afghanistan where officials are
reeling from US President Donald Trump’s plan to slash troop numbers, which
many fear could harm efforts to end the conflict with the Taliban.
It also comes after a major security shake-up in Kabul that has placed
staunch anti-Taliban and Pakistan veterans in charge of the police and
military.
While there has been no official announcement of a US drawdown, the mere
suggestion of the United States reducing its military presence has rattled
the Afghan capital and potentially undermined peace efforts. General Scott
Miller, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, said Sunday he had not
received orders to pull forces out of the country.
Trump’s decision apparently came Tuesday as US peace envoy Zalmay
Khalilzad met with the Taliban in Abu Dhabi, part of efforts to bring the
militants to the negotiating table with Kabul.
Many Afghans are worried that Ghani’s fragile unity government would
collapse if US troops pulled out, enabling the Taliban to sweep back into
power and potentially sparking another bloody civil war.
BSS/AFP/RY/11:10 hrs