Gunmen attack embassies, parliament in Kabul
By Sohel Uddin, NBC News in Kabul, and Alastair Jamieson, msnbc.com
Gunmen launched multiple attacks in the Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday, assaulting Western embassies in the heavily guarded, central diplomatic area and at the parliament in the west, witnesses and officials said.
At least a dozen large explosions and automatic gunfire rocked Kabul on Sunday in what appeared to be a coordinated attack across several areas of the city.
In the eastern Afghan province of Paktia, insurgents occupied a four-storey building near the compound of the chief of police.
A helicopter gunship from Afghanistan's NATO-led force was firing at the building in the province on the Pakistani border, which has been plagued by violence for years. (Writing by Robert Birsel)
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the ongoing assault in Kabul in a text message to The Associated Press.
He said a group of armed suicide bombers launched an attack on the NATO forces headquarters, the parliament building across town and a number of diplomatic residences in Kabul.
Rocket-propelled grenades were fired at Afghanistan’s parliament and the Agence France-Presse news agency reported attackers had entered the building.
NBC's Akbar Shinwari reported that a shell passed overhead going in the direction of the US embassy compound.
It also reported that the newly-built Kabul Star hotel is on fire.
Smoke could be seen rising from a few buildings and sirens could be heard through the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood.
At least one attack was aimed at the British embassy and the British ambassador's house.
News channel Al Jazeera reported that smoke was seen rising from the German embassy.
Gunfire appeared to be coming from various directions in the heavily barricaded diplomatic area of central Kabul close to both the U.S. and British embassies.
Militants who had staked out positions in a tall building were firing rockets in different directions, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.
Pedestrians in the streets took cover as shooting continued.
It was the first attack in Kabul since a shooting inside the Interior Ministry in February in which a ministry employee turned a gun on NATO advisers and shot two soldiers dead.
Reuters contributed to this report.
http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/15/11207702-gunmen-attack-embassies-parliament-in-kabul?lite
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