Taliban again attack Afghanistan election offices as vote nears
KABUL, Afghanistan — Suicide bombers dressed as women broke into a private home on Saturday and began firing rocket-propelled grenades at their target next door: the headquarters of Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission, the latest insurgent assault on this country’s closely watched presidential vote.
The attackers died but there were no other reports of fatalities. Two police officers were wounded in the assault, which lasted for more than five hours, officials said.
Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility in what has become an all too familiar occurrence in Afghanistan’s capital one week before a pivotal election to choose President Hamid Karzai’s successor.
The Taliban have vowed to disrupt the polling, describing it as an American-sponsored plot, and in recent days have succeeded in sowing fear if not delaying the casting of ballots on April 5. The election headquarters was also attacked last week, leaving five people dead.
On Friday, five Taliban insurgents struck a guest house run by a San Rafael, Calif.-based charity organization called Roots of Peace, beginning a gun battle with police and private security guards that left at least one person dead, an Afghan child.
Last week Taliban gunmen managed to get past normally tight security at Kabul’s luxury Serena Hotel. Nine peope were killes, including a prominent Afghan journalist, his wife and two young children.
Afghan, United Nations and U.S. officials have said the election will go on as planned, amid heavy security, but it was unclear how many Afghans were growing shy of casting their ballots given Taliban threats to directly target anyone who participates.
“The U.N. remains undeterred in carrying out its work and I am confident that the IEC is as equally determined,” Nicholas Haysom, the ranking U.N. official in Afghanistan, said in a statement. “More importantly, I am sure that ordinary Afghans remain undeterred in their desire to have their say on the future direction of their country.”
Saturday’s attack began around 12:30 when five insurgents in burkas, the full-length garment some Muslim women wear, broke into a private home about 400 yards from the election commission headquarters. One suicide bomber detonated his explosives at the entrance to the house while the others stormed the gate, said Hashmat Stanikzai, a Kabul police spokesman.
The insurgents then started firing on the compound with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons, said Mohammad Ayob Salangi, the deputy interior minister. Two rockets struck the compound, officials said, but the attackers did not attempt to gain access to the election offices.
Police responded to the attack and killed the remaining four insurgents, Stanikzai said. Election workers had holed up inside the compound and were not harmed.
The owner of the four-story house, Haji Muhibullah, said that he began receiving threats about two months ago but that his requests for security were ignored.
“I asked the police to provide security for my house, or let me have personal guards, give me weapons, or establish a police checkpoint,” Muhibullah said. “But the police didn’t care.”
Twitter: @SBengali
Special correspondent Baktash reported from Kabul. Times staff writer Bengali reported from Mumbai, India.
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