Insurgents are attacking the headquarters of the Afghan election commission in Kabul, a week before the presidential election, police say. Gunmen have entered a nearby building and are firing at the election commission with automatic weapons.
The attack comes a week before presidential elections which the Taliban have vowed to disrupt. It comes a day after a major attack on a building housing foreign aid workers in the Afghan capital.
The assailants are using a three-storey building as a launching pad to attack the heavily secured compound of the International Election Commission (IEC), a senior official told the BBC.He said a warehouse in the compound is currently on fire after it was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. Separately, Kabul police chief General Zahir told the BBC they had “cornered the attackers”.
The insurgents attacking the commission are believed to be using assault rifles and some heavier weapons, says the BBC’s David Loyn.
The commission is on a specially built site on a main road out of the centre of Kabul to the east, he adds. It is not yet clear if there are any casualties.
“We heard two explosions inside the IEC compound, the sound of firing is still ongoing, but people are safe and are in (reinforced) safe rooms,” IEC spokesman Noor Mohammad Noor tells AFP news agency.
The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack via a recognised Twitter account, the news agency adds.
The group has threatened a campaign of violence to disrupt the polls on 5 April, urging their fighters to attack polling staff, voters and security forces in the run-up to election day.
The BBC correspondent in Kabul says the latest attack comes hours before the election commission was due to announce details of how many polling stations will be opened.
It is the second attack against an IEC office in the Afghan capital this week. – BBC News
