KABUL, Afghanistan - The militants launched a brazen attack and strong in central Kabul on Monday morning, with high explosions and gunfire echoing across the city. The Taliban said its fighters carried out the attack.
Police and paramilitary officers at the scene said the onslaught began with an initial suicide bombing in the downtown area which includes the Justice Ministry, the Central Bank, the presidential palace and the Serena Hotel favored by Westerners. Hotel residents took cover in a basement as the fighting swirled above them, according to a BBC reporter at the hotel.
There were no immediate independent estimates of casualties, which some reports said appeared to be light. But the Taliban claimed to have killed 40 people.
Militants have become increasingly bold in penetrating the capital as their campaign broadens in many parts of Afghanistan, prompting President Obama to promise 30,000 additional American troops to reinforce the international coalition.
“The fighters and the suicide bombers are now in the Afghan National Bank , the Justice Ministry, and other official departments,” he said almost three hours after the fighting started. “Fighting is still going on but our men are still alive,” he said, claiming that 40 government officials had been killed. By noon, witnesses said, the fighting seemed to be over, save for scattered gunfire.
The attack seemed designed to undermine the already frayed authority of the Karzai government even as it seeks to move against the militants politically.The presidential spokesman, Waheed Omar, said Sunday that the government will soon unveil a major new plan offering jobs, security, education and other social benefits to Taliban followers who defect.
The plan, in the final stages of preparation, will go beyond the government’s previous offers to the Taliban, Mr. Omer said at a news conference. “The mistakes we have committed before have been considered in developing this new plan,” he said. “We have not done enough.”
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