Taliban launches bomb attack on Afghan parliament

The Taliban launched an attack on the Afghan parliament in Kabul today, detonating a car bomb before attempting to storm the building, according to local media.

The explosion was caught on live television as camera crews filmed outside parliament. Images on social media showed the building full of smoke as people ran for cover.

The New York Times says security forces managed to push back the gunmen, who took refuge in a nearby empty building under construction.

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According to the Interior Ministry, six gunmen were killed as the attack was brought to an end.

The health ministry has said that 21 civilians, including three children, were injured as windows shattered in the massive blast.

"A suicide bomber blew himself up just outside the parliament building and several fighters took positions in a building close to parliament," confirmed a Kabul police spokesman.

One lawmaker, Fawzia Koofi, told The Guardian: "The parliament ceiling fell down, including the lights and everything. Then shooting started from here and there."

The attack came as MPs were preparing to confirm the appointment of Massoom Stanekzai as defence minister – a post that had been vacant for nine months.

A Taliban spokesman said it had launched the attack to coincide with the "important gathering to introduce the country's defence minister".

The BBC says that "even by Afghan standards, these are very dramatic scenes" and police were faced with a "complex operation" to clear the building and fight off the attackers.

Reuters points out that the withdrawal of foreign forces has allowed Taliban fighters to launch "several major attacks in important Afghan provinces", with Chardara in the northern province of Kunduz becoming the second district to fall to the Taliban over the weekend. A local official said Afghan soldiers were preparing a counter attack to retake the district.