ZCZC
BFF-22
AFGHANISTAN-UNREST-LEAD
Intense fighting erupts in Kabul after rockets fired
KABUL, Aug 21, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Afghan security forces battled militants in
Kabul’s old quarter Tuesday, with military helicopters firing above a mosque
to quell an assault that was launched with a rocket barrage against the
capital.
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the assault, which
came as President Ashraf Ghani was making a speech marking the first day of
the Islamic Eid al-Adha holiday, days after offering the Taliban a
conditional three-month ceasefire.
An Afghan army helicopter swooped in low over the street near the Eidgah
Mosque in a central district of the city and fired a rocket on a militant
position, sending a plume of dust into the sky.
People who moments earlier had been buying livestock for the Eid feast
could be seen sprinting for shelter as cars swerved in the road to flee the
fighting.
Blasts and gunfire could be heard as security forces cordoned off the
area. The mosque is near the presidential palace where Ghani was making his
speech, which was being aired live on Facebook when the attack began.
The president can be seen pausing as multiple blasts are heard in the
background, some sounding nearby, before stating: “This nation is not going
to bow to these rocket attacks.”
The attackers appeared to be in a building behind the mosque, which was
partially destroyed in another attack several years earlier and is not
believed to have been in use for Eid.
Police said the fighting began around 9:00 am, after multiple rockets
struck in at least two areas of Kabul, and was continuing more than six hours
later.
Footage aired live on broadcaster Tolo News showed dark black smoke
emanating from the area near the mosque while fire trucks and security
vehicles rushed to the scene.
Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said police believe at least
four militants are involved in the assault. “An operation has been launched
to arrest or gun them down,” he told AFP.
Interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish confirmed that militants had
taken over a building near the mosque and fired several rockets.
“Two people have been wounded. Security forces are fighting the
terrorists,” he told AFP.
Danish later told Tolo that the militants were using rocket propelled
grenades and mortars to target parts of the city.
“Choppers are flying over the site and the security forces are busy
defusing two explosive-packed vehicles,” wrote interior ministry strategic
communications chief Bahar Mehr on Facebook.
– Ceasefire offer –
Ghani unveiled the government’s latest ceasefire gambit during an
Independence Day address late Sunday, saying security forces would observe
the truce beginning this week — but only if the militants reciprocated.
The truce offer was welcomed by the United States and NATO after nearly
17 years of war, though it was not clear if their forces in Afghanistan would
also participate.
The Taliban have not yet officially responded to Ghani’s proposal.
The move followed an extraordinarily violent week in Afghanistan that saw
that Taliban storm the provincial capital of Ghazni — just a two-hour drive
from Kabul — and press the fight against security forces across the country,
with estimates suggesting hundreds of people may have been killed.
Analyst Nazar Sarmachar said the proximity of the rockets to the
presidential palace as Ghani was speaking highlighted glaring security
shortcomings in the capital.
“Had a rocket landed in the backyard of the palace … it could have
killed or wounded the president,” he said.
The proposal came after an initial ceasefire in June, the first such
truce since the US-led invasion in 2001 that toppled the Taliban regime.
For three days thousands of insurgents poured into cities across
Afghanistan, eating ice cream and posing for selfies with security forces to
celebrate.
The brief respite spurred hopes that a new path was opening for possible
peace talks in the country.
The Taliban have long insisted on direct talks with Washington and has
refused to negotiate with the Afghan government, which they see as
illegitimate.
In June Washington indicated a change in its long-standing policy, with
US officials meeting Taliban representatives in Doha in July.
However, State Department official Alice Wells told AFP Monday that any
future peace talks must include the Kabul government, and would not occur
directly between the Taliban and Washington.
BSS/AFP/RY/1712 hrs