Spanish policemen among dead in brazen Taliban raid on embassy compound

Two Spanish policemen were among at least six people killed in an hours-long Taliban siege near the country’s embassy in Kabul’s diplomatic quarter. They died along with four Afghan police officers as a series of explosions and gunfire rocked the high-security zone in a brazen raid which began on Friday evening. Security men near the embassy ducked from gunshots as they hauled away a limp body and two wounded men through the dark to a waiting ambulance – one bleeding from the head, the other a policeman with a gunshot wound to his leg. Four attackers were also killed in the attack which was finally brought to an end early on Saturday.

Four Afghan policemen, two foreign nationals and four attackers were killed in the terrorist attack in Kabul

Fraidoon Obaidi, head of Kabul’s Criminal Investigation Department

The assault began when a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb near a guest house in the embassy compound, allowing three other insurgents to take up positions and open fire on security forces. The powerful blast, which sent a thick plume of smoke into the sky, was followed by further explosions through the night along with sporadic bursts of gunfire. Nine Afghan civilians were wounded and another 47 Afghans and foreigners were rescued from nearby buildings where they were trapped as security forces sealed off the area around the guest house. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which follows a deadly 27-hour siege of Kandahar airport this week.

The operation took time because we wanted to rescue the people trapped in surrounding buildings and we had to move cautiously and in a proper tactical manner

Abdul Rahman Rahimi, Kabul police chief

Middle East Kabul