Taliban attack across Kabul, target US embassy

1 dead, 16 wounded as suicide fighters launch multiple attacks towards US, other embassies, send 2 suicide bombers to city's West.

By REUTERS
Vehicle damaged in Kabul attack (photo credit: REUTERS)
Vehicle damaged in Kabul attack
(photo credit: REUTERS)
KABUL - Taliban suicide fighters launched a multi-pronged attack in Kabul on Tuesday, firing rockets towards the US and other embassies in central Kabul, and sending two suicide bombers to the city's West later in the afternoon.
The Taliban have launched a high-profile attacks on multiple targets in the capital in the past, but this is the first time they have organized simultaneous assaults on such separate parts of the city.
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Near the heavily fortified diplomatic district, insurgents took over a multi-story building under construction and fired rockets in the direction of several embassy and NATO compounds.
In western Kabul, just a few kilometres away, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at the entrance to a police building killing a policeman.
A second suicide bomber wounded 16 people when he detonated his explosives near the Habibia high school, also in the west of Kabul, the Ministry of the Interior said in a statement.
The US embassy said its personnel were safe following the attack in the diplomatic district of the capital, while British Ambassador Sir William Patey confirmed the nearby US embassy had been a target.
"Aware of attack on US Embassy. All UK Embassy staff accounted for," Patey said on Twitter.
The assault was the second major Taliban attack in the city in less than a month after suicide bombers targeted the British Council headquarters in mid-August, killing nine people.