AFGHANISTAN: Afghan police say all assailants killed in Kabul presidential palace attack

Record ID: 290455

  • Title: AFGHANISTAN: Afghan police say all assailants killed in Kabul presidential palace attack
  • Date: 25th June 2013
  • Summary: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (JUNE 25, 2013) (REUTERS-ACCESS ALL) AMBULANCE AND FIREFIGHTERS ARRIVING AT THE SITE OF THE ATTACK NEAR THE GATE OF AFGHAN PRESIDENTIAL PALACE MORE OF AMBULANCE DRIVING FROM THE SCENE AFGHAN SECURITY FORCES AT SITE OF ATTACK NEAR THE PALACE GATE MORE OF AFGHAN SECURITY FORCES ON GUARD VARIOUS OF AFGHAN SECURITY FORCES ON GUARD NEAR THE GATE OF THE PALACE CROWD OF POLICE FORCES NEAR THE SITE (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) GENERAL MUHAMMAD AYOUB SALANGI, KABUL POLICE CHIEF, SAYING: "The guards at the gate resisted and all three attackers were killed. Right now the area has returned to normal as you see, there is no problem." AFGHAN POLICE FORCES AT THE SITE
  • Embargoed: 10th July 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Afghanistan
  • Country: Afghanistan
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA5CWZQYRVM7JWLF3QGZVW95WDE
  • Story Text: Afghan police say an attack by Taliban insurgents on the presidential palace in Kabul has ended with all attackers killed.

    Afghan forces put down an early morning attack by Taliban insurgents on the presidential palace and nearby buildings in central Kabul on Tuesday (June 25), with police saying all the assailants had been killed after a 90-minute gunfight.
    A Reuters reporter at the palace said the attack began soon after 6:30 a.m. (0200 GMT) when at least one man opened fire with an automatic rifle at a gate to the palace in the central Shash Darak district.
    President Hamid Karzai's whereabouts were not immediately known, though he had been due to attend a press event at the palace after 9 a.m. (0400 GMT). Reporters had been gathering at the palace and took cover when the firing broke out.
    Officials said five assailants had been killed along with two Afghan guards.
    "The guards at the gate resisted and all three attackers were killed. Right now the area has returned to normal as you see, there is no problem," said Muhammad Ayoub Salangi, Kabul Police Chief.
    The defence ministry and the Ariana Hotel, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's Afghan station, were also targeted.
    Afghan forces and U.S. servicemen returned fire and explosions resounded in the area. Schoolchildren walking to classes nearby were also caught in the exchanges. It was not immediately clear if any were hurt.
    The assault was launched a day after the U.S. envoy appointed to help the Afghan government and the Taliban pursue peace, James Dobbins, arrived in Kabul and met Karzai. He had been due to hold a press roundtable with Afghan reporters.
    He told reporters on Monday (June 24) that Washington was still trying to determine if the Taliban were ready for talks.
    The talks to end 12 years of war between the Taliban insurgency and international and Afghan forces ran into difficulties over the opening of a Taliban office in the Gulf emirate of Qatar.
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