Afghanistan (AP) — Seven heavily armed Taliban fighters launched a pre-dawn attack near Afghanistan’s main airport Monday, apparently targeting NATO’s airport headquarters with rocket-propelled grenades, assault rifles and at least one large bomb. Two Afghan civilians were wounded and all the attackers were killed after an hours-long battle.
It was the third time in a month that insurgents have launched a major attack in the Afghan capital, seeking high-profile targets to rattle public confidence as Afghan security forces take over most responsibility for protecting the country ahead of most foreign troops’ withdrawal next year.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his government would not be deterred by the attack.
“These cowardly terrorist attacks on the Afghan people cannot change the chosen path of the Afghan people toward progress, development, peace and elections,” Karzai said, referring to next spring’s president poll to elect a new head of state.
Karzai was not in Kabul during the attack, but was visiting the Gulf state of Qatar, where he was discussing his country’s stalled peace process and the possible opening of a Taliban office in Doha.
Both Afghanistan and the United States support the opening of a Taliban political office in Qatar as part of an effort to rekindle talks with the insurgent group, which has been waging war against the government and U.S.-led military coalition for nearly 12 years. But first the Taliban must renounce all ties to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups and accept Afghanistan’s constitution.
