(28 Jun 2011) HEADLINE: Raw Video: Suicide attack in Afghanistan kills 9
CAPTION: Nine people were killed in Kabul, Afghanistan on Saturday as insurgents stormed a police station. The Interior Ministry said that one of the attackers detonated a suicide bomb vest outside the gates of the station while the others rushed in and started shooting. (June 18)
STORYLINE:
Nine people were killed in the Afghan capital on Saturday as insurgents stormed a police station near the presidential palace.
Three men dressed in Afghan army uniforms stormed the police station near the presidential palace in Kabul and opened fire on officers, according to a witness.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that one of the attackers detonated a suicide bomb vest outside the gates while the others rushed in and began shooting.
The crackle of gunfire echoed through the streets typically bustling with shoppers and government employees on a Saturday, the start of Afghanistan's work week.
The fighting ended when security forces shot dead the two other attackers.
Three police officers, one intelligence agent and five civilians were killed in the attack, the Interior Ministry said.
A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message to The Associated Press, saying the group dispatched three suicide bombers.
Attacks in the Afghan capital have been relatively rare, although violence has increased since the 2 May killing of Osama bin Laden in a US raid in Pakistan and the start of the Taliban's annual spring offensive.
The capital is one of seven regions scheduled to be handed over to Afghan security control in late July - part of NATO's efforts to begin transferring security responsibilities ahead of its planned 2014 withdrawal from the country.
The US also plans to start drawing down troops in July.
The assault occurred shortly after President Hamid Karzai announced during a speech at the presidential palace that his government and the US had begun preliminary
negotiations with the Taliban aimed at ending the conflict.
Karzai said some of the Taliban emissaries that have met members of the peace council he set up were only representing themselves, while others were speaking for the broader movement.
The exact nature of the contacts was not immediately clear, and Karzai said that no government official outside of the council had contact with them.
APTN STORY NUMBER: 693604
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