[Al Arabiya Latest] A suicide bomber killed at least 16 people, including four Indian nationals, and wounded 32 others near an upmarket shopping and hotel complex in the heart of Kabul on Friday, and police shot dead two other would-be attackers, officials said.Witnesses reported at least two smaller blasts around the Safi Landmark complex as police cordoned off the area, ambulances rushed to the scene and sporadic gunfire was heard.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attacks on behalf of the Islamist militants.
"Our mujahidi (holy warrior) fighters managed to attack in the heart of Kabul city once again," Mujahid told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.
He said at least five Taliban fighters launched the attack. Two suicide bombers detonated explosives-packed vests near the hotel and the City Centre shopping mall. Three fighters were still holed up in the basement of the shopping centre, he said.
A police official said there was still sporadic firing from the basement. "The situation is under control," said the police official, who asked not to be identified.
The attack came as NATO-led foreign troops and Afghan forces press ahead with an offensive against the Taliban in their stronghold in southern Helmand province, a key element of Washington's new strategy to put down a growing insurgency.
The heavily fortified center of Kabul has been relatively calm since Jan. 18, when Taliban gunmen stormed the city's commercial heart, taking over buildings, detonating suicide vests and killing at least five people.
Fridays, the Muslim holiday, are the quietest day of the week in Kabul but the city's diplomatic "green zone" was immediately sealed off to traffic and loudspeaker announcements in Dari and English told residents to stay indoors.
| But not in Pashto. I wonder why that is? |