Taliban claim responsibility as Western embassies and key government buildings come under attack in Afghan capital.
Last Modified: 15 Apr 2012 11:41

The Taliban said they and other armed groups were behind Sunday's co-ordinated attacks in Kabul
The Afghan capital has come under co-ordinated attack, with explosions and gunfire rocking the diplomatic
enclave as armed men took over a hotel and tried to enter parliament.
Suicide bombers had taken over the newly built Kabul Star hotel, which was reportedly on fire in an area which includes a major US military base, the United Nations office and the presidential palace, witnesses said on Sunday.
The Taliban said they and other armed groups were behind the co-ordinated attacks in Kabul, which included attacks on the British and German embassies in the heavily guarded, central diplomatic district.
"We claim responsibility for these attacks," Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban's spokesman, said.
Taliban fighers had also launched assaults in two provinces, he said.
There was no report of casualties, as the area was sealed off by security forces.
From the perspective of one neighbourhood in Herat
A spokesman said that the US embassy was in lockdown, while German foreign ministry said its embassy in Kabul was damaged but said no one was believed to be injured.
"Attacks are ongoing in the vicinity of the US embassy in Kabul. Avoid the area. Shelter in place," the embassy said in a mobile phone text message.
All staff were accounted for and safe, with no reports of injuries, said spokesman Gavin Sundwall.
In separate attacks, fighters also targeted government buildings in Logar province, the airport in Jalalabad, and a police facility in the town of Gardez in Paktia province.
The locations under attack included the offices of the provincial governor, police headquarters, a US base - all close to each other, deputy provincial police chief, Raees Khan told AFP.
Attackers fired a rocket-propelled grenade into a house used by British diplomats in the city centre and smoke billowed from the building after the blast, a Reuters news agency quoted a witness as saying.
Two rockets hit a British embassy guard tower near the Reuters office in the city.
Several other attackers tried to enter the parliament building, but were engaged by security forces and driven back, an official said.
They had taken cover in a building near the parliament and fighting was ongoing, parliamentary media officer Qudratullah Jawid told AFP news agency.
US army convoys could be seen coming to the area accompanied by Afghan police in flak jackets.
As the attacks began, several large explosions and bursts of gunfire were heard near the US embassy.
The embassy sounded alarms and warned staff to take cover, AFP reporters heard from their office near the embassy in the Wazir Akbar Khan area, which houses many diplomatic missions.
Source: Agencies




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