– Taliban attack CIA office in Kabul, two killed (PressTV, Nov 21, 2012):
The Taliban militants in Afghanistan have carried out a bomb attack that aimed to target an office of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Kabul, with ongoing clashes at the site of the bombing, Press TV reports.A “large number” of Taliban members armed with “light and heavy weapons attacked an important office of the CIA in the center of Kabul and the fighting is continuing,” the militant group said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
“The enemy has suffered heavy losses but a precise number can’t be determined at this time,” the Taliban claimed.
At least two people were killed in the bomb explosion, which was carried out in the main diplomatic area of the Afghan capital at 8:20 a.m. local time (0350 GMT) on the same day.
An Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman said of the two victims that “one was a security guard, the other was a civilian,” adding, “Another person was wounded.”
Following the blast, dozens of police officers rushed to cordon off the area, where the US and UK embassies and the headquarters of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) are located.
“It appears that an ISAF vehicle was damaged as a result of the attack,” said an ISAF spokesperson after the explosion that prompted the US embassy to sound its “duck and cover” alarm.
The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity remains across the country.