Afghanistan hit by multiple raids

Fighting is continuing in Kabul where militants have staged a wave of co-ordinated gun and rocket attacks. Foreign embassies, Natos HQ and the Afghan parliament were hit in the first major attack on Kabul in more than six months. The attackers also struck in the provinces of Logar, Paktia and Nangarhar. The Taliban said itwas the start of a " spring offensive" . Two Afghan security force members and 17 militants were reportedly killed. A further 17 Afghan police officers and nine civilians were injured, the Afghan interior ministry said. Where was the intelligence to prevent co-ordinated attacks?” The last attack on Kabul on this scale was in September 2011 when heavily armed insurgents took over an unfinished high-rise building and opened fire on the US embassy and Nato headquarters. That attack left at least 14 Afghans dead. The Taliban said Sundays attacks marked the start of a " spring offensive" . Their " fighting season" tends to begin when the warmer weather melts snow in mountain passes along the border with Pakistan, allowing fighters to cross into Afghanistan. Among Sundays targets was the British embassy, with two rockets hitting a guard tower and a rocket-propelled grenade fired at a house used by British diplomats, but no staff were hurt, the Foreign Office later confirmed. UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said he " strongly" condemned the attacks, and praised Afghan government forces for responding " bravely, promptly and effectively" . Reports of explosions and gunfire in Kabul continued to come in 12 hours after the attacks began around 13:15 local time (08:45 GMT). Insurgents still holding out in the city could be heard shouting " We will fight to death" , Afghan officials told BBC News. They are said to be fending off Afghan security forces with hand grenades and rocket-propelled grenades in the diplomatic quarter. The attackers focused their assault on Western embassies in the central diplomatic area and around parliament but also attacked international troops in the east of the city. The Taliban listed as targets the German and British embassies, the Kabul Star hotel, the headquarters of the Nato-led international force (Isaf), and parliament house. 15 April 2012: Seven sites including parliament, Nato HQ and foreign embassies attacked 13 September 2011: Gunman seize unfinished high-rise to fire on Nato HQ and US embassy 19 August 2011: Gunman storm British Council HQ, killing 12 people Some damage was reported to the embassies of Germany and Japan but Russia denied reports that its mission had been hit " despite the close proximity of the fighting" . In eastern Kabul, in the Camp Warehouse area, a convoy of French troops returned fire after coming under attack. Greek and Turkish troops manning a nearby base also came under heavy attack and responded with machine-guns, AP reports. Afghan security forces captured two suicide bombers alive before they were able to reach their intended targets, according to Isaf. Isaf said Afghan forces had taken the lead in repelling the attacks, which it . However, images from Kabul and the provinces appeared to show Isaf and US troops and aircraft in the area of fighting. Late on Sunday, Kabuls police chief, Gen Ayub Salangi, told BBC News that fighting in the Camp Warehouse area had ended, but there was continuing violence both in the diplomatic quarter and close to parliament. Eleven police officers and five civilians were wounded in Kabul while four insurgents were killed, police say. Suicide bombers attacked a US air base near the eastern city of Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province. Four civilians were wounded and seven insurgents were killed, police said. The dead reportedly include four suicide attackers dressed in burqas and womens clothes, who were shot dead while making an attack. According to officials In Logar, three police officers were wounded and three insurgents killed and one arrested In Paktia, three police officers and five civilians were wounded and three insurgents killed after insurgents took over a building used by students in the provincial capital, Gardez In the northern city of Kundoz, 15 suspected militants were arrested over an alleged plot to launch attacks Mirwais Yasini, an MP from Nangarhar, told BBC News: This shows the Taliban dont want peace." The MP said it was clear an intelligence failure had occurred.
bbc.co.uk