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 Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
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.
-
Political cartoons for January 17Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include hard hats, compliance, and more
-
Ultimate pasta alla NormaThe Week Recommends White miso and eggplant enrich the flavour of this classic pasta dish
-
Death in Minneapolis: a shooting dividing the USIn the Spotlight Federal response to Renee Good’s shooting suggest priority is ‘vilifying Trump’s perceived enemies rather than informing the public’
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Normalising relations with the Taliban in AfghanistanThe Explainer The regime is coming in from the diplomatic cold, as countries lose hope of armed opposition and seek cooperation on counterterrorism, counter-narcotics and deportation of immigrants
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
