Three Police Among Seven Killed in Nine-Hour Kabul Gunbattle

Taliban Siege Kabul Traffic Police HQ

by Jason Ditz, January 21, 2013

Taliban fighters laid siege to the Kabul Traffic Police headquarters in the Afghan capital city of Kabul today in a pre-dawn attack that sparked a nine-hour gunbattle that left at least seven people dead, including three members of the police force.

In addition to the slain, Interior Ministry officials reported four police, two special forces troops and at least half a dozen civilians were wounded in the attack, which included suicide bomb attacks and a car bombing.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid confirmed his group was behind the attack, saying that the facility was targeted because it was being used as a training facility “run by foreign military forces.” There was no indication any foreign forces were involved in the fighting.

It was the second major Taliban attack in the capital in the past week, as a Wednesday strike targeted the Afghan intelligence agency in downtown Kabul, killing a guard and wounding dozens of others.

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