A Taliban suicide bomber struck the entrance to the Afghan Parliament on Monday and gunmen tried to storm the heavily guarded compound, setting off a gunbattle with police that left two people, including a child dead as lawmakers were meeting inside to vote on the appointment of a new Defence Minister.
Afghan security forces managed to repel the attack, killing all seven gunmen and ensuring that no Members of the Parliament were harmed. But the audacious assault came as the Taliban captured two districts in as many days in the country’s north, displaying their ability to operate on multiple fronts.
The assault on such a high-profile target in downtown Kabul raises fresh questions about security as Afghan forces battle a resurgent Taliban for the first time without the aid of NATO forces who ended their combat mission in December.“First a car bomb detonated on the main road near the Parliament building, then a group of attackers entered a building in front of Parliament,” Kabul police spokesman Ebadullah Karimi told AFP.
Deputy Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said there were seven attackers and the Health Ministry reported 31 people, including five women and a child, wounded.Dramatic television footage of the moment the first explosion struck showed pandemonium and screams inside Parliament, with Speaker Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi sitting in his chair, calmly telling lawmakers “it’s an electrical issue”.
MP Mohammad Reza Khoshak, who was in the chamber at the time, described hearing “a loud explosion, followed by several other smaller explosions”.”In a few seconds the hall was filled with smoke and MPs began fleeing the building,” he said.
The Taliban has claimed the attack. The militant group’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told The Associated Press by telephone that it targeted Stanekzai and the Parliament itself. He said the assault showed the “capability of the mujahedeen, who can even attack the Parliament in the capital. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the assault.
“Targeting innocent people in the holy month of Ramadan is a clear act of hostility against the religion of Islam,” his office said in a statement, adding that the perpetrators” are criminals who are bound by no creed or religion.”
Afghan forces have struggled to fight off the Taliban since the US and NATO combat mission officially concluded at the end of last year. More than 2,300 Afghan soldiers, police and pro-Government fighters have been killed since the start of the year — more than the total number of US troops killed since the 2001 invasion that ended Taliban rule.
The war on the Taliban has also been hampered by months of bickering between President Ashraf Ghani and his election rival turned Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, which has repeatedly delayed the appointment of a Defence Minister.