Taliban attack on Kabul threatens Afghan talks

The Taliban, who have said they are willing to take part in talks with the United States and Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s administration, launched an early morning assault on Tuesday, triggering a 90-minute firefight.

A US envoy was in Kabul on Tuesday to try to smooth the way forward for the stalled talks in the Gulf state of Qatar ahead of the pullout from Afghanistan of most of the Nato-led troops next year. He had been expected to meet reporters at the US embassy, but the conference was called off.

President Karzai was also due to attend, and was said to be inside the palace at the time of the attack. A palace official said he was safe.

The attack began soon after 6.30am (0200 GMT) when at least one man opened fire with an automatic rifle close to a gate to the palace in central Shash Darak district.

A senior government official said four or five attackers had used fake identify papers to try to make their way through security gates in the Shash Darak district, which leads to Kabul’s most tightly guarded areas.

One car made it through, but a second vehicle was stopped and those inside began shooting. Grenades were thrown.

Returning fire

The area is home to the presidential palace compound, the Ministry of Defence and an annexe of the US embassy at the old Ariana hotel. The US Central Intelligence Agency’s Afghanistan station is also based there.

Afghan forces and US servicemen returned fire and explosions resounded through the area. Children walking to school were caught in the shooting, but escaped serious injury.

A thick plume of smoke was seen rising from the Ariana at the height of the exchanges.

One of the attackers was killed when he detonated a bomb on his body, the government official said, and three or four were killed by security forces. At least two Afghan security guards were killed.

The US ambassador to Afghanistan, Jim Cunningham, condemned the attack and called on the Taliban to once again commit to the nascent peace process in Doha.

“We remain steadfast in supporting the Afghan government and people against the scourge of terrorism and the violence directed against them,” he said.

Diplomatic efforts to end almost 12 years of war stalled last week over Afghan anger at the opening of a Taliban office in the Gulf state of Qatar.