Several dead, hurt in attack near Kabul ministry

(20 Apr 2019) A suicide blast rocked Afghanistan's capital Saturday during a gun battle with security forces, officials said, killing at least seven people a day after hopes for all-encompassing peace talks collapsed.

At least eight people were wounded.

Police chief General Sayed Mohammad Roshandil said the bomber blew himself up outside the Telecommunications Ministry, clearing the way for four gunmen to enter the building and the heavily guarded government compound in central Kabul.

Nasart Rahimi, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said four civilians and three soldiers were killed during the attack. Eight civilians were wounded, he said.

Wahidullah Mayar, spokesman for the Public Health Ministry, said the wounded were evacuated to hospitals, three of them women.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Both Taliban insurgents and the Islamic State group are active in eastern Afghanistan and have previously claimed attacks in Kabul.

The Taliban denied involvement.

Rahimi said the security operation ended at the Ministry of Telecommunication "after all four attackers were shot and killed by Afghan security forces."

The attack came a day after Afghan-to-Afghan peace talks in Qatar were cancelled. It would have marked the first time that Taliban and Kabul government officials sat together to negotiate an end to the war in Afghanistan and a withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Rahimi said security forces blocked all roads near the attack site and that forces shot and killed four additional suicide bombers before the attackers could reach their target of the nearby central post office.

He said as many as 2,700 government employees and civilians were rescued by security forces after being stuck in several government buildings including the central post office.



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