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AFGHANISTAN-UNREST LEAD
Gunmen attack intelligence training centre in Kabul
KABUL, Aug 16, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Gunmen launched an attack on an
intelligence training centre in Kabul Thursday, officials said, just a day
after a suicide bomber killed dozens of students in the war-weary Afghan
capital.
It was the latest incident in a blood-soaked week that saw militants
deliver crippling blows to government forces across Afghanistan.
“Clashes are ongoing and the area is cordoned off by the Afghan security
forces,” said Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai.
The firefight erupted near a training facility overseen by the National
Security Directorate — Afghanistan’s intelligence agency — with the gunmen
holed up in a construction site near residential homes, an official at the
scene said.
A live feed on local broadcaster Tolonews showed the area cordoned off
with gunfire echoing through the empty streets.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the incident.
The attack comes just hours after a suicide bomber detonated explosives
inside an education centre in western Kabul, where students were studying for
college entrance exams, killing at least 37 people.
The school bombing underscored the price that ordinary Afghans have paid
in the grinding conflict as the country reels from a recent uptick in
violence, including a massive, days-long Taliban onslaught on the eastern
city of Ghazni.
Afghan forces appear to have finally pushed Taliban fighters from the
strategic provincial capital.
Small pockets of the city began opening up to humanitarian aid Thursday,
while partial mobile service returned after telecommunications infrastructure
and government buildings were destroyed during the fighting.
The surge in violence comes weeks after Afghans marked an unprecedented
country-wide ceasefire between the Taliban and government forces in June,
giving some relief to civilians.
Militant attacks and suicide bombings were the leading causes of civilian
deaths in the first half of 2018, a recent UN report showed.
Fighting has intensified in recent months as US and Afghan forces ramp up
ground and air offensives against the Islamic State (IS), and the Taliban
step up their turf war with the group.
The Taliban have not claimed a major assault in Kabul for weeks.
IS, however, has carried out multiple attacks in the eastern city of
Jalalabad and the capital in recent months, targeting sites ranging from
government ministries to a midwife training centre.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1347 hrs