Sediq Sediqqi
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
September 6, 2016
The Afghan Interior Ministry says security forces have killed the last gunman involved in an attack in an upscale neighborhood that is home to many government facilities and the headquarters of many foreign organizations.
Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said in a message posted on Twitter on September 6 that all three attackers who took hostages in a siege that lasted nearly 11 hours in the Shar-e Now (New City) neighborhood were now dead.
Earlier, Sediqqi said one civilian had been killed and six others wounded in the attack. The attack started with a suicide bombing around midnight on September 5.
“Forty-two people including 10 foreigners have been rescued,” Sediqqi said.
The charity Care International said that the armed group launched the attack on an Afghan government compound near to its Kabul office. It said all its staff members were evacuated, safe, and accounted for.
The three gunmen had reportedly barricaded themselves in close to an office of Care International.
That attack came just hours after a separate Taliban double bombing killed at least 24 people and injured 90 others elsewhere in the capital.
The twin suicide bombings on September 5 struck a busy area near the Afghan Defense Ministry, with one army general, and two senior police commanders among the dead.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter on September 5 that the Defense Ministry was the target of the first attack, while police were targeted in the second.
Based on reporting by AFP, dpa, and Reuters
Copyright (c) 2016. 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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