At least 10 dead and 19 wounded in Taliban attack on British security group G4S in Kabul

At least 10 people were killed and 19 were wounded in an attack on a compound of British security group G4S in the Afghan capital Kabul today. 

A spokesman for Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry, Najin Danish, said Taliban insurgents targeted a security firm in the eastern part of the capital Kabul.

He added a suicide bomber detonated his explosives and then other insurgents started a gun battle with forces in the area.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.

An Afghan injured man receives medical care at Wazir Akbar Khan hospital after a car bomb blast which targeted a British security contractor group G4S in Kabul, Afghanistan

Security forces block a road at the site of a suicide bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan today

Security forces block a road at the site of a suicide bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan today

A young Afghan boy wounded receives treatment. Basir Mujahid, spokesman for the Kabul police chief, says the target of the attack was security company G4S

A young Afghan boy wounded receives treatment. Basir Mujahid, spokesman for the Kabul police chief, says the target of the attack was security company G4S

Basir Mujahid, spokesman for the Kabul police chief, says the target of the attack was security company G4S. 

He said the company offers training for Afghan security forces.

The complex attack on a well-protected site underlines how insecure Kabul remains despite efforts by the United States and the Afghan government to open peace talks with the Taliban to end more than 17 years of war.

The insurgents’ main spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the attack had caused heavy casualties and had been launched in retaliation for casualties caused by security forces in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar.

G4S, one of the world’s biggest security groups, is one of a number of foreign security contractors operating in Afghanistan and provides guards for the area around the British embassy.

‘We can confirm that there has been an incident at one of our locations in Kabul. The situation is ongoing and we are coordinating with Afghan authorities to bring it to a conclusion,’ a statement from G4S said.

An Afghan injured man receives medical care at Wazir Akbar Khan hospital after a car bomb blast which targeted a British security contractor group G4S

An Afghan injured man receives medical care at Wazir Akbar Khan hospital after a car bomb blast which targeted a British security contractor group G4S

An official from the public health ministry said 11 wounded had been taken to city hospitals and reporters saw at least one dead body but gathering accurate casualty figures was hampered by the continuing fighting.

Earlier the president, who faces a re-election battle next year, told a U.N.-sponsored conference in Geneva of plans to appoint a team to seek a peace deal, which he said would take at least five years to implement.

An Afghan injured man receives medical care in hospital. 

An Afghan injured man receives medical care in hospital. 

Efforts to open talks with the insurgents have picked up following the appointment of U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, but the violence that kills thousands every year has continued.

Three U.S. service members were killed close to the central city of Ghazni on Tuesday and at least 30 Afghan civilians were killed in a U.S. air strike overnight, officials and local residents said.

Last week, more than 50 people were killed in Kabul when a suicide bomber attacked a banquet hall where a meeting of religious leaders was taking place.

Security officials have warned that violence is likely to escalate alongside peace moves as the Taliban seeks to strengthen its position before any formal negotiations.

 

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