Suicide attacks in Afghan city spark street battle

[David]

AP


KABUL – Teams of suicide bombers and insurgents attacked government buildings in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, sparking running gun battles in a major Afghan city, officials said. Armed insurgents took government workers hostage and ambushed an American quick-reaction force, wounding one U.S. soldier.

At least four security forces, two civilians and an unknown number of militants were killed in the attack, which began around 10 a.m. and raged for hours, a doctor said. But officials cited mass confusion over the multi-pronged attack in Khost city, and the toll was expected to rise.

The attack began when a suicide car bomb exploded outside the Khost governor's compound, the Interior Ministry said.

Then a team of five suicide bombers tried to attack the nearby police headquarters, but were rebuffed by security forces and entered the neighboring municipality building, said Gen. Abdul Qayum Bakizoy, the police chief.

Three bombers detonated their explosives, the Interior Ministry said, while other militants took city employees hostage, Bakizoy said.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed that 30 suicide bombers had attacked the government buildings.

A U.S. spokesman summed up the chaos: "A lot of stuff is going on right now."

Dr. Amir Shah Mangal said four security forces and two civilians were killed in the attack and that 16 others — including 14 civilians — were wounded. He said there were many other bodies lying near the municipal building but medical personnel could not reach the area because of the ongoing clash.

Militants in recent months have carried out an increasing number of complex attacks that involved several assailants. Military analysts have said the increasing sophistication of attacks in Afghanistan is a result of training by Pakistani militants and al-Qaida fighters.

The attack took place one day after the Pentagon removed the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David McKiernan, and as the new U.S. ambassador, the former three-star general Karl Eikenberry, presented his credentials to President Hamid Karzai.

The attack started with the suicide bomb at the governor's compound, where a number of U.S. troops were meeting with the provincial police chief, said U.S. military spokesman Brian Naranjo.

"When the explosion occurred at the governor's compound, they responded and they were engaged with small arms fire," Naranjo said.

Two suicide bombers in burqas tried to enter the governor's compound after the car bombing but were killed by security forces, said Arifullah Pashtun, a governor's aide.

A second U.S. team was sent from the nearby American base, Camp Salerno. But those troops were fired on en route, Naranjo said. A U.S. soldier and an Afghan policeman were wounded and taken to Camp Salerno for treatment where they were in stable condition, he said. A number of militants were killed, he said.

"Since that initial attack there have been more attacks in Khost," Naranjo said. "A lot of stuff is going on right now."

The provincial governor and the city's mayor were unharmed, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary. The ministry said two police and two guards were killed in the explosion at the governor's compound.

After the militants entered the municipality building, a number of explosions reverberated from within, as U.S. and Afghan forces surrounded the area, an Associated Press stringer said from within the police chief's compound.

McKiernan will be replaced by Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who has been a leader of special forces. The Obama administration hopes the shakeup will help reverse the militants' momentum. Taliban and other insurgent fighters have increased their attacks the last three years and now control wide swaths of territory.

Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, Afghanistan's Defense Ministry spokesman, listed three priorities that McChrystal should focus on when taking over the command.

"Prevent civilian casualties, strengthen the quality and quantity of Afghan forces, and focus more on coordinating the military operations with Afghan forces," Azimi said.

McKiernan's exit comes as more than 21,000 additional U.S. forces begin to arrive in Afghanistan — dispatched by Obama to confront the Taliban more forcefully. A record 38,000 U.S. troops are already in the country.