RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan
May 30, 2018
An attack on Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry in Kabul has been repelled with one policeman and all of the attackers being killed in the latest in a series of militant attacks in the city.
A suicide bomber blew himself up at the first checkpoint of the Afghan Interior Ministry compound in Kabul before gunmen exchanged fire with the security forces, officials say.
The attack, claimed by the Islamic State (IS) extremist group, involved seven gunmen who were killed by security forces, Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish told RFE/RL more than an hour after the May 30 assault was launched.
One police officer died and six other people were wounded in the attack, he added.
“The fighting is over. The attackers have all been killed by security forces between the first and second security perimeter,” Kabul police chief Daud Amin said.
The assault comes as the Taliban and a local affiliate of the IS group have launched a number of attacks in the Afghan capital in recent months, killing hundreds of people.
Also on May 30, officials said at least three Afghan police officers were killed after a group of suicide bombers attacked a police station in the eastern province of Logar.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the group was responsible for the attack, which took place in the province’s capital, Pol-e Alam.
Khalid Safi, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said the slain policemen included the commander of the police station, another officer, and the deputy director of traffic police for the provincial capital.
Twelve other people, including four police officers and eight civilians, were wounded in the attack, provincial police chief Mohmmad Abdali told RFE/RL.
Some reports said a total of six police officers were killed in the attack, which began when a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle full of explosives close to the police building. Three would-be suicide bombers then tried to enter the compound, but were shot and killed by security forces.
A number of civilians’ houses were reportedly damaged by the car bomb.
Meanwhile, in the southern city of Kandahar, three civilians were killed and at least 10 others wounded by a May 30 explosion that appeared to have targeted a mechanic’s workshop repairing Afghan National Army vehicles, a spokesman for the provincial governor said.
Six of those injured are in critical condition, according to the spokesman, Daud Ahmadi.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for that attack.
The Taliban has stepped up its attacks against Afghan security forces as well as government officials across the country since the announcement of its spring offensive in April.
The Western-backed government in Kabul has been struggling to fend off the Taliban and other militant groups since the withdrawal of most NATO troops in 2014.
With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters
Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
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