Kabul terror attack: 28 killed in Taliban suicide bombing

At least 28 people have been killed and over 300 injured in a Taliban car bomb attack and gun battle in a crowded area of Kabul. A Taliban suicide car bomber attacked an office of Afghanistan’s main national security agency in Kabul during the morning hour. “A suicide bomber detonated a vehicle filled with explosives in a private parking lot behind the compound, destroying the back wall of a building,” according to Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi. “A second attacker then entered the building. That attacker died in a gun battle with security forces less than two hours later,” added Mr Sediqi. According to reports, 28 people, most of them civilians, have been killed as a huge explosion struck in the heart of Kabul. But that number is expected to go up. More than 300 people have been wounded. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. The massive explosion targeted the office of a security agency charged with protecting Afghan government VIPs and top officials. Condemning the terror attack, Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani tweeted: “Today’s terrorist attack near Pul-e-Mahmud Khan, clearly shows the enemy’s defeat in face-to-face battle with ANSDF.” The US Embassy in Kabul also condemned the attack and said: “Afghanistan deserves peace and security, not attacks that victimize parents taking their children to school, workers on their morning commute, and people who have stepped forward to help defend their fellow citizens.” The attack ended several weeks of relative peaceful period in the Afghan capital.