Suicide squad hits the heart of Kabul

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - As their target, they selected the hub of Afghan governance, a block of buildings in downtown Kabul that encompasses the presidential palace, the Justice Ministry, the Central Bank and other heavily guarded buildings.

Then, on Monday morning, as the heart of the capital bustled with shoppers and Afghans on their way to work, seven Taliban militants with AK-47 rifles, grenades, rocket launchers and suicide bomb vests hidden under their shawls unleashed their attack.

They left five people dead and scores hurt and laid bare Kabul's vulnerability even as the United States ratchets up the war to rout the militants.

The daring raid illustrated the Taliban's skills at carrying out reconnaissance that can set the stage for such an attack, and it exposed glaring weaknesses in the U.S.-backed Afghan government's ability to adequately secure the heart of the country.

Somehow, the insurgents were able to get explosives, firearms and large amount of ammunition past the gauntlet of checkpoints that ring Kabul's downtown. And for five hours, they plunged the city's center into a state of war.

Afghans darted for cover while bursts of gunfire rang out. Thick, black smoke billowed into the sky as NATO helicopters hovered above.

"We used to think this kind of attack was no longer possible in Kabul," said Nasir Ahmed, an Afghan police official, shouting above the din of machine-gun fire and rocket explosions. "Now it's clear we've got to do a lot more to make this city safer."

Among those killed were two civilians -- including a child -- two Afghan police officers and one Afghan intelligence officer, said Defense Minister Abdul Raheem Wardak. The injured included at least 35 civilians, 20 police, 10 Afghan soldiers and six Afghan intelligence officers. All seven insurgents were killed during the five-hour battle.

President Hamid Karzai told reporters the attack occurred during a swearing-in ceremony at the presidential palace for some of his Cabinet nominees. No one at the palace was hurt.

"This is just one of the dangers," Karzai said.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the militants' aim was to target the presidential palace, the Central Bank and other government buildings.

The move resembled a carefully coordinated attack last February by Taliban militants on the Justice Ministry and two other downtown Kabul government buildings that killed 20 people.

Monday's attack began shortly before 10 a.m., when the team of insurgents sent one of its members, a militant wearing a suicide bomb vest, to the front gate of the Central Bank, said Amrullah Saleh, chief of Afghanistan's intelligence agency. When an intelligence officer stopped the militant at the gate, the bomber detonated the explosives, killing himself and the officer, Saleh said.

Other insurgents ran into the nearby Feroshga Shopping Center, a four-story building less than 70 yards from the presidential palace. As they darted into the mall, the insurgents threw grenades, and stunned Afghans tried to flee, police said.

From the windows and rooftop of the mall, the militants engaged in a fierce, prolonged firefight with Afghan police and commandos who had surrounded the area. Nearby at the Hotel Serena, a luxury hotel often used by Westerners and journalists, guests were hurried into the basement while police and commandos at the hotel fired at the militants in the mall.

The attack paralyzed the city. Police cordoned off the downtown area and established roadblocks that brought traffic elsewhere to a standstill. Gunmen holed up in the mall kept up the battle even as flames engulfed the building. At one point, one militant armed with explosives and at the wheel of an ambulance drove up to the Gul Bahar Shopping Center down the street and blew himself up. He was the only fatality there.