Gunmen attack Kabul military compound, multiple casualties
Kabul, (MILLAT ONLINE):Gunmen launched a pre-dawn raid on a military compound in Kabul on Monday, officials said, in an assault that caused multiple casualties and marked the third major attack in the city in recent days.
Defence ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said five soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in the assault claimed by the Islamic State group via its propaganda arm Amaq.
“An Afghan army battalion has come under attack this morning. The attackers wanted to breach the battalion,” Waziri told AFP, adding the raid had ended.
“Two bombers detonated themselves and two were killed by our forces and one was detained alive. The fighting is over but unfortunately we have five deaths and 10 wounded.”
He said Afghan forces had seized a rocket, two Kalashinkovs, and a suicide vest from the attackers.
Officials said the attack was on an army battalion near the Marshal Fahim military academy where high-ranking officers are trained and which was initially identified as the target. An officer at the academy told AFP he could hear an explosion and gunfire.
The gunmen did not enter the heavily fortified compound, which is on the western outskirts of the city, an Afghan security source said.
Witnesses told AFP they heard several explosions and gunfire at around 5:00 am (0030 GMT). Security forces have swarmed the area and blocked roads leading to it, but earlier an AFP reporter at the scene could also hear explosions.
In October a Taliban suicide bomber killed 15 Afghan army trainees as they travelled home from the Marshal Fahim academy.
Militants including the Taliban and IS have stepped up their attacks on beleaguered Afghan security forces in recent months, sapping morale already lowered by desertions and corruption.
Afghan troops have taken what the UN describes as “shocking” casualties since international forces pulled out at the end of 2014, though troop casualty figures are no longer released.