AFGHANISTAN-BLAST/MORNING Kabul residents clean up after latest attack

Record ID: 144667

  • Title: AFGHANISTAN-BLAST/MORNING Kabul residents clean up after latest attack
  • Date: 8th August 2015
  • Summary: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (AUGUST 8, 2015) (REUTERS) AFGHAN POLICEMEN GUARDING CLOSE TO THE U.S. SPECIAL FORCES BASE AFTER ATTACK BY INSURGENTS POLICEMEN STOPPING CARS ON THE STREET MORE OF POLICEMEN STOPPING CARS BOY THROWING AWAY DEBRIS OF RESTAURANT/BROKEN GLASS ON THE GROUND DEBRIS AND BROKEN GLASS ON THE GROUND (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) HAJI HAFIZULLAH KHAN, RESIDENT, SAYING: "It w
  • Embargoed: 23rd August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Afghanistan
  • Country: Afghanistan
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA3WSUNQ90DZGQ5DD0G3AG7WU7V
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Residents near a special forces base in Kabul were clearing busy clearing debris on Saturday (August 8) after an overnight battle which left a NATO force member and two insurgents dead.
    The fighting at the base is the latest in a series of attacks to hit the Afghan capital killing dozens and wounding hundreds.
    One Western security source said insurgents attacked Camp Integrity with a car bomb and then fighters followed up with gunfire.
    NATO officials said authorities were still gathering information about the attack on the facility near Kabul airport.
    "It was late in the night when the fighting started between insurgents and security forces. It lasted for hours in the area. It was terrible," said Haji Hafizullah Khan, who lives near the base.
    "We are tired of conflict. Security is getting worse day by day. Hundreds of our countrymen were killed and wounded by a bomb yesterday. It's really shocking," added another local resident Haji Mohammad Salah.
    The war between the Western-backed government and the Taliban has intensified since the NATO combat mission ended last year and most foreign troops were withdrawn.
    Kabul has frequently been targeted by the Taliban and other insurgent groups seeking to destabilize the fragile government of President Ashraf Ghani although the scale of Friday's(August 7) attacks was unusually large.
    The attacks dashed any hopes of rapid progress in peace talks following last week's appointment of Mullah Akhtar Mansour as leader of the Taliban, who pledged to continue the insurgency which has killed and wounded thousands this year.
    Mansour took over as leader after the movement's reclusive founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, was revealed to have died two years ago.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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