BFF-10 Gunmen attack Kabul military academy: officials

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Gunmen attack Kabul military academy: officials

KABUL, Jan 29, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Gunmen launched a pre-dawn attack on a
military academy in Kabul on Monday, security officials and sources told AFP,
in an ongoing assault that marks the latest violence to strike the Afghan
capital.

Some of the attackers at the Marshal Fahim Military Academy have been
killed, an Afghan security source said, in the third major attack in the city
in just over a week.

At least four attackers were still involved in an intense gun battle with
security forces, the source said, adding the gunmen had not managed to enter
the heavily fortified academy.

Three soldiers have been wounded, defence ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri
told AFP.

“One bomber detonated himself and the rest of the attackers are resisting.
They are under siege by our forces,” Waziri added.

Witnesses told AFP they heard several explosions and gunfire at around
5:00 am (0030 GMT) at the academy on the outskirts of Kabul where high-
ranking military officers are trained.

An AFP reporter at the scene said he could “hear explosions”. Security
forces have swarmed the area and blocked the road leading to the academy.

An officer inside the academy’s compound said he heard an explosion
followed by an exchange of gunfire.

Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid confirmed to AFP there had been
rocket and gunfire.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the raid, which comes
days after a Taliban suicide attacker driving an explosives-packed ambulance
blew up in a crowded area of the city, killing and wounding hundreds.

At least 103 people were killed and 235 wounded in Saturday’s lunchtime
attack — one of the worst bombings in the city in recent years — which was
followed by a national day of mourning in the war-weary country.

The government has blamed the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network, which
Afghan and Western officials suspect of involvement in at least some of the
recent attacks in the capital.

Monday’s raid came as both the insurgents and the Islamic State group have
escalated their attacks on Kabul, turning it into one of the deadliest places
in Afghanistan for civilians.

On January 20, Taliban insurgents stormed Kabul’s landmark
Intercontinental hotel and killed at least 25 people, the majority
foreigners.

But there is still confusion over the true toll from that attack with
conflicting figures given by officials and Afghan media reporting higher
numbers

Kabul is on high alert as the city braces for further attacks. Security
warnings sent to foreigners in recent days said IS militants were planning to
attack supermarkets, hotels and shops frequented by foreigners.

BSS/AFP/MR/1055 hrs.