Militants raid Kabul compound, 43 killed
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An hours-long gun and bomb attack on a Kabul government compound killed at least 43 people, officials said yesterday, making it one of the deadliest assaults on the Afghan capital this year.
No militant group has claimed responsibility for the raid, which caps a bloody year for Afghanistan as long-suffering civilians and security forces are slaughtered in record numbers.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the attack had 鈥渘othing to do with us.鈥
Another 27 people were wounded in yesterday鈥檚 massacre on a site where the Ministry of Public Works and an office that handles pensions and benefits for war veterans are located, health ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh said.
Gunmen stormed the compound mid-afternoon after detonating two car bombs at the main entrance, opposite residential apartment blocks.
As they entered two buildings belonging to the Ministry of Public Works and the organization responsible for supporting war veterans and their families, terrified workers ran for their lives. Some jumped from windows several floors up.
The blasts may have been decoys, according to witnesses who said they saw several militants enter the compound through a back gate.
Hundreds were trapped inside for hours as heavily armed security forces swarmed the area, engaging the attackers in a fierce gun battle punctuated by multiple explosions.
Public works ministry employee Amdullah Barekzai hid under his desk for five hours, listening to gunfire and blasts inside his building. 鈥淲hen the security forces took us from the office, I saw many bodies covered in blood, lying in the corridors,鈥 Barekzai said.
At least four militants were killed and more than 350 people freed, officials said. Most of the dead and wounded were civilians, who have borne the brunt of the 17-year war.
It was the deadliest assault in Kabul since a suicide bomber blew himself up in the middle of a religious gathering last month, killing at least 55 people.
President Ashraf Ghani, whose government has been skewered over its security failures, said 鈥渢errorists attack civilian targets to hide their defeat on the battleground.鈥
But the statement belies the grim reality on the battlefield where the Taliban have the upper hand. Afghanistan鈥檚 largest militant group has made significant territorial gains this year as its fighters inflict record casualties on government forces.
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