Taliban attack parliament

Lawmakers criticize security agencies for checkpoint lapses that allowed bomber to pass

A Taliban suicide bomber and six gunmen attacked the Afghan National Assembly on Monday, wounding at least 19 people and sending a plume of black smoke across Kabul. It was the second northern district to be hit in two days.

The attack on the symbolic center of power, one of the most brazen in years, along with a series of Taliban gains elsewhere, raise questions about the NATO-trained Afghan security forces' ability to cope and about how far the militants can advance.

Violence has spiraled in Afghanistan since the departure of most foreign forces at the end of last year. The insurgents are pushing to take territory more than 13 years after the US-led military intervention that toppled the Taliban from power.

The attack began when a car loaded with explosives and a Taliban driver blew up outside the National Assembly gates, said Ebadullah Karimi, spokesman for the Kabul police. He questioned how the driver got through several security checkpoints.

"First a car bomb was detonated on the main road near the parliament building; then a group of attackers entered a building in front of parliament," Karimi said.

Six gunmen took up positions in a building near the National Assembly, he said. Security forces killed the six after a gunbattle lasting nearly two hours.

Kabul Police Chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi said all lawmakers were safe. TV pictures showed the speaker sitting calmly, and legislators leaving the building, engulfed in dust and smoke, without panicking.

Four women were among the 19 wounded, according to Sayed Kabir Amiri, a health official who coordinates Kabul hospitals.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility.

"We have launched an attack on the parliament as there was an important gathering to introduce the country's defense minister," he said by phone.

Lawmaker Farhad Sediqi was among several lawmakers who criticized security agencies for not preventing the attack.

"It shows a big failure in the intelligence and security departments of the government," he said.

The withdrawal of foreign forces and a reduction in US airstrikes have allowed Taliban fighters, who ruled Afghanistan with an iron fist from 1996 to 2001, to launch several major attacks in important provinces.

The second district to fall to the Taliban on Monday was in the northern province of Kunduz. Officials said it fell after urgently needed reinforcements failed to arrive.

Reuters - AFP