Taliban Bombers and Gunmen Attack Afghan Parliament, Wounding Dozens of Civilians, Including Women and Children
Taliban bombers and gunmen attacked the Afghan parliament on Monday but were stopped by security forces who killed all seven attackers. A suicide bomber hit the entrance of the building, while others detonated explosives and fired rockets, wounding at least 31 civilians in the process, including two women and two children.
The Associated Press reported that the Taliban has captured two northern districts in the past two days and is active on multiple fronts in the country. The assault on the parliament was reportedly aimed at lawmakers who were meeting inside to the discuss the appointment of a defense minister.
Arif Rahmani, a member of parliament, told CNN that the politicians were inside a meeting hall when the first explosion struck, but none were seriously harmed.
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Police spokesman Ebadullah Karimi added that all lawmakers were evacuated from the parliament, while the Taliban gunmen involved in the attack, who had rockets and AK-47 machine guns, were all killed.
Hundreds of children from a nearby school were also evacuated as a precautionary measure.
The attack has drawn condemnation from the U.N. mission in the country, which called it "a clear and deliberate affront to democracy in Afghanistan," while the U.S. Embassy said that the assault "showed "blatant disrespect for democracy and the rule of law."
The Taliban took control of a second district in the northern Kunduz province just hours earlier, where it has been especially active. It also captured Dasht-e-Archi district following a surge of hundreds of militants who fought their way to the center of the adjacent district of Chardara, Reuters added.
"The Taliban managed to take it over this morning as the area has been surrounded for days," said Nasruddin Saeedi, the district governor who escaped to the provincial capital, Kunduz city.
"There are many foreign fighters with heavy machine guns. We have asked for reinforcements, but none arrived."
Back in November 2014 the Taliban carried out a major suicide bomb attack during a volleyball game in Afghanistan, which killed at least 50 people. The attack occurred only days after President Barack Obama extended the combat role of American soldiers in Afghanistan into 2015.
Though the U.S. has pulled out most of the forces it had deployed in Afghanistan last decade, it still maintains close to 9,800 combat troops in the country for security purposes.
A senior administration official, who wasn't named, said at the time that the American troops will not be actively hunting down Taliban members.
"We will no longer target belligerents solely because they are members of the Taliban," the official said. "To the extent that Taliban members directly threaten the United States and coalition forces in Afghanistan or provide direct support to al-Qaeda, however, we will take appropriate measures to keep Americans safe."
