Taliban gunmen explode several bombs in Afghan Parliament in Kabul

[RUCCI]

A vehicle is seen on fire after a blast near the Afghan parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan

Loud explosions and gunfire have been heard in the parliament building in the Afghan capital, Kabul. Gunmen have stormed the lower house of parliament, with several blasts going off inside and in front of the building.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi has confirmed that there has been an assault on the parliament and that security forces have been deployed there. A Taliban spokesman has claimed responsibility for the attack on the parliament.

Local journalists say six explosions in total have been heard. "Right now, the parliament is empty and full of smoke," Al Jazeera's Jennifer Glasse reports. TOLOnews journalist Saleha Soadat reports that explosion in the lower house was detonated as the second vice president entered to introduce the nominee for defense ministry.

An unknown number of MPs have reportedly sustained shrapnel injuries, the agency said. Television was broadcasting live from the parliament when the blast struck and lawmakers were seen leaving the premises.

Afghan MP Harif Rahmani, who was inside the lower house of parliament at time of the explosions, said no MPs were injured seriously.

The firefight between the militants and the parliament security force continued for more than 20 minutes before additional security forces came to their rescue, Rahmani told TOLOnews.

Rahmani also said that the parliament had been warned about a possible attack a few days ago.

MPs and journalists have been evacuated from the parliament building.

The attack on the lower house of parliament in Kabul comes amid reports that the Taliban has seized part of the Kunduz province in the north of the country, on the border with Tajikistan. Following heavy clashes with law enforcement on Sunday night, Taliban seized security checkpoints around the district, Abdul Jalil, a resident of the district, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

On their website, Taliban militants claimed they had seized 14 police posts. Dasht-i-Archi is the second district to fall to Taliban control in the last week, after Chahardara district of the same province was seized by militants last Saturday.


Source: http://http://goo.gl/BKd751

A co-ordinated Taliban attack on the Afghan parliament in Kabul has ended with all six gunmen killed, the interior ministry says.

Attackers detonated a huge car bomb outside the gates, stormed the compound, then entered a building next to the chamber.

Police evacuated the premises, while trying to fight the gunmen off.

The Taliban say they carried out the attack to coincide with a vote to endorse a new defence minister.

The spokesman for the interior ministry, Sediq Seddiqi, said the gunmen had attempted to storm the parliament building itself after the gates were breached by the suicide bomb.

They were fought off and entered a building under construction next to parliament. MPs were showered with broken glass, and the chamber filled with smoke as the fighting went on. It took nearly an hour before all the firing stopped.

At least 18 people are reported to have been wounded. Mr Seddiqi said no MP had been injured.

Pictures on social media showed parliament full of smoke and people running for cover.

Even by Afghan standards, these were very dramatic scenes, and police had a complex operation on their hands, says the BBC's David Loyn in Kabul.

The Taliban were extracting maximum propaganda advantage by doing it on the day that parliament was meeting to consider the appointment of new Defence Minister Massoom Stanekzai, our correspondent says.

Local media reported another explosion in the Dahmazang area of Kabul city.

The Taliban have launched complex attacks on government buildings in the capital in the past.

They have made substantial gains recently in Helmand in the south-west, and have been advancing across the north of the country, capturing two districts of the Kunduz province in recent days.

Militant violence has increased across the country since the departure of most US and Nato forces last year.

 

[RUCCI]

A co-ordinated Taliban attack on the Afghan parliament in Kabul has ended with all six gunmen killed, the interior ministry says.

Attackers detonated a huge car bomb outside the gates, stormed the compound, then entered a building next to the chamber.

Police evacuated the premises, while trying to fight the gunmen off.

The Taliban say they carried out the attack to coincide with a vote to endorse a new defence minister.

The spokesman for the interior ministry, Sediq Seddiqi, said the gunmen had attempted to storm the parliament building itself after the gates were breached by the suicide bomb.

They were fought off and entered a building under construction next to parliament. MPs were showered with broken glass, and the chamber filled with smoke as the fighting went on. It took nearly an hour before all the firing stopped.

At least 18 people are reported to have been wounded. Mr Seddiqi said no MP had been injured.

Pictures on social media showed parliament full of smoke and people running for cover.

Even by Afghan standards, these were very dramatic scenes, and police had a complex operation on their hands, says the BBC's David Loyn in Kabul.

The Taliban were extracting maximum propaganda advantage by doing it on the day that parliament was meeting to consider the appointment of new Defence Minister Massoom Stanekzai, our correspondent says.

Local media reported another explosion in the Dahmazang area of Kabul city.

The Taliban have launched complex attacks on government buildings in the capital in the past.

They have made substantial gains recently in Helmand in the south-west, and have been advancing across the north of the country, capturing two districts of the Kunduz province in recent days.

Militant violence has increased across the country since the departure of most US and Nato forces last year.

 

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