At Least 6 Killed in Suicide Attacks in Kabul

  • 5/9/2018
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At least six people were killed on Wednesday in three suicide bombings in the Afghan capital Kabul, officials said. In the first attack a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a police station in the west of the city, sparking an intense gunfight between other militants and officers, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP. Ariana TV footage showed a thick plume of black smoke rising into the sky while a photo posted on Twitter purportedly of the west Kabul police station showed a building on fire. Another two suicide bombers struck at the entrance of a police station in the city center, Danish added. "Two attackers who tried to enter the police compound were shot dead," the spokesman added. Asam, the head of the Kabul ambulance service, who only has one name, confirmed that six people have been transferred to hospitals. The toll was expected to rise. The ISIS group later claimed responsibility for one of the attacks. It said the attack occurred in Kabuls Dasht-e-Barchi district but gave no details on any casualties. The Taliban and ISIS frequently target Afghanistans Western-backed government and security forces. Twin suicide bombings claimed by ISIS last week killed at least 25 people, including nine journalists who had rushed to the scene of the first attack. It was the deadliest assault on reporters since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Elsewhere in Afghanistan, the Taliban advanced on a district compound, officials said Wednesday, with one reporting the capture of the northern district by the insurgents and another saying heavy fighting was still underway. The battle for the compound in the Bilchirgh district, in the northern Faryab province, came a day after the insurgents captured the district compound in the remote Tala wa Barfak district, in the northern Baghlan province. The Taliban have captured several districts in different parts of the country from Afghan security forces since 2014, when the US and NATO formally concluded their combat mission and shifted to a supporting role. Mohammad Hashim, a member of parliament from Faryab province, said the Taliban captured the district headquarters in Bilchirgh early Wednesday after more than 40 security forces retreated under heavy fire. He said the Taliban also captured several villages nearby. Provincial police spokesman Abdul Karim Yuresh said the fighting is still underway and that government forces still hold the compound. The Taliban issued a statement saying they control the district and claiming to have killed 10 security forces.

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