Taliban launch major offensive in Afghanistan; NATO bases targeted

Taliban launch major offensive in Afghanistan; NATO bases targeted

Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan

The Taliban launched a series of coordinated attacks across the Afghan capital and at least three eastern provinces today, targeting NATO bases, parliament and foreign embassies in a complex assault that shows the insurgents can still penetrate Afghan security and hit Western and government targets in the heart of Kabul.

Suicide bombers and insurgents wielding heavy weapons and rocket-propelled grenades executed the near-simultaneous attacks in what the Taliban called an opening salvo ahead of the spring fighting season, when warmer weather typically brings increased attacks. One police officer and 17 militants died in the attacks.

The assault, the most widespread in the Afghan capital since September, came as the U.S.-led international force is speeding up the transfer of security responsibility to the Afghans in preparation for an end to NATO’s combat mission in 2014. The scale and scope of the violence underscored the challenge that Afghan security forces have in protecting even the country’s centers of power.

The Taliban claimed that Afghan and foreign troops suffered heavy casualties, but reports from Afghan authorities said only militants were killed.

The Ministry of Interior reported that 17 insurgent fighters died in the attacks in Kabul, Paktia, Nangarhar and Logar provinces. One police officer was killed and 17 police were wounded — 11 in Kabul and three each in Logar and Paktia provinces, the ministry said.