Suicide bombers struck two police stations in Afghanistan's capital today, killing at least two police and wounding several other people, officials said. Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said the first suicide bomber attacked a station in the western part of Kabul, killing at least two police. He said there was sporadic gunfire after the blast, as a "cleanup operation" was carried out. Kabul police chief Gen. Daud Amin said another two policemen were wounded in the attack.
Amin said a separate attack in central Kabul, in which a suicide bomber struck at the entrance to a police station, set off fighting that was still underway. He said gunmen occupied a nearby building, from which they were firing at security forces. Asam, the head of the Kabul ambulance service, who only has one name, said six people have been transferred to hospitals. The toll was expected to rise.
The Islamic State group claimed the first attack. Both the Taliban and IS frequently target Afghanistan's Western-backed government and security forces. Twin suicide bombings claimed by IS last week killed at least 25 people, including nine journalists who had rushed to the scene of the first attack. It was the deadliest assault on reporters since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Elsewhere in Afghanistan, the Taliban advanced on a district compound, officials said today, with one reporting the capture of the northern district by the insurgents and another saying heavy fighting was still underway. PTI
