Militants stormed an intelligence agency training facility
in Kabul on Monday, officials said, triggering intense fighting with
police in the latest attack claimed by the militant Islamic State (IS)
group.
“At around 10:10 am, a group of armed attackers
entered an under-construction building in (the) NDS training centre in
(the) Afshar area of Kabul,” interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish
told AFP, referring to the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan's spy agency.
IS claimed responsibility for the attack through its propaganda arm.
“The
fighting is ongoing and we have also launched our operation.” Nasrat
Rahim, a deputy interior ministry spokesman, said the sound of large and
small arms fire could be heard from the fighting.
“There
are three attackers involved... the clearance operation is ongoing,”
said the spokesman, adding there were no immediate reports of any
casualties.
“Two IS attackers raid the Afghan intelligence centre in Kabul,” the militant group's media outlet Amaq reported.
Roads to the area were closed and dozens of police and intelligence officers were blocking access to the public. AFP reporters, who were held more than a kilometre away from the scene, saw ambulances and reinforcements headed towards the site.
“I
was going toward my school. It (the attack) happened suddenly... the
police arrived in the area fast and blocked the roads, not allowing
anyone to get to their homes,” Naweed, a student, told AFP.
The
Afghan capital has become one of the deadliest places in the war-torn
country for civilians in recent months, as the resurgent Taliban and
increasingly IS both step up their attacks, targeting security
installations and mosques.
Security in Kabul has been
ramped up since May 31 when a massive truck bomb ripped through the
city's diplomatic quarter, killing about 150 and wounding around 400
people, mostly civilians.
No group has officially claimed
responsibility for that attack, which the government has blamed on the
Taliban-allied Haqqani Network.
Monday's attack represents another blow to beleaguered Afghan forces.
The
Taliban have targeted military installations in recent months,
including a spate of attacks in October that killed around 150 people.
Afghan
forces, already beset by desertions and corruption, have seen
casualties soar to what a US watchdog has described as “shockingly high”
levels since Nato forces officially ended their combat mission in 2014.
Morale
has been further eroded by long-running fears that the militants have
insider help ─ everything from infiltrators in the ranks to corrupt
Afghan forces selling equipment to the Taliban.
But IS,
which has expanded its presence in Afghanistan since it first appeared
in the region in 2015, has also dramatically scaled up its attacks in
Kabul, including on the country's Shia minority.
In
November, a suicide attacker blew himself up outside a political
gathering in Kabul, killing at least 14 people in an attack claimed by
IS.
