Afghan officials say a nearly day-long Taliban assault on Kabul has
ended after security forces killed the remaining insurgents.
The
Afghan interior ministry made the announcement Wednesday, some 20 hours
after militants first launched their coordinated assault on several
high-profile targets in the capital.
On Tuesday, insurgents armed
with suicide vests and rocket-propelled grenades targeted NATO's
headquarters, the U.S. Embassy, the Afghan Intelligence Agency and other
areas, killing at least seven people.
As part of the assault,
six militants stormed a multi-floor building under construction on the
edge of Kabul's diplomatic district, which provided them clear shots on
the nearby U.S. Embassy and NATO headquarters. There also was a
simultaneous series of explosions around the surrounding neighborhood.
By
nightfall Tuesday, NATO helicopters were circling over the high-rise
construction site as Afghan security forces moved through the building
in an attempt to subdue the one or two insurgents believed to be
remaining from the assault.
Both NATO and the U.S. Embassy said
none of their staff were wounded in the attack.
In Washington,
CIA director David Petraeus told U.S. lawmakers that a rocket-propelled
grenade hit the U.S. Embassy complex, wounding four Afghans who were
lined up to wait for American visas.
Afghan President Hamid
Karzai condemned the attack and praised the effective response of the
Afghan authorities. He said such actions will not stop the security
transition in the country, but instead embolden the Afghan people's
determination to take responsibility for their own country's affairs.
The
assault came as NATO nations seek to transfer full security control to
the Afghan military within the next few years. U.S. and NATO officials
responded to the violence by saying it would not deter their resolve in
continuing the transition through the end of 2014. Afghan security
forces already have taken security control of several cities and
provinces.
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