10 Afghan policemen slain in bed

Tailban suicide blasts leave 2 others dead; 21 attackers die

Friday, September 5, 2014

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban struck a government compound in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday in a dawn attack that included two suicide truck bombings and left at least 12 people dead, including 10 policemen asleep in their quarters nearby.

The assault followed a message from the Taliban to world leaders gathered at a NATO summit in Wales, where the drawdown of the alliance’s mission in Afghanistan was discussed.

The exit of all foreign combat troops at the end of the year is proof that “no nation is able to subdue a free nation, especially a nation proud and free such as Afghanistan,” the Taliban note said.

Thursday’s attack started at sunrise, with the Taliban setting off two suicide truck bombs outside the government compound in the provincial capital of Ghazni followed by an assault by nearly a dozen gunmen.

The assault triggered a gunbattle with policemen and security forces at the compound, and all 21 assailants were killed, including the two suicide bombers, the Interior Ministry said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message sent to media.

The bombs blew out many windows across the city and left about 200 people injured, mostly from flying glass, said Ghazni Gov. Musa Khan Akbarzada. He said one truck bombing carved a 10-yard hole into the ground. The Interior Ministry put the number of wounded at 130.

The bombings also destroyed Ghazni’s city library and two museums, the governor said.

Afghanistan is embroiled in a political crisis, with the country’s April presidential election still undecided. The two candidates vying to succeed President Hamid Karzai pulled their observers out of a ballot audit meant to determine the winner of a June runoff. The audit’s final results are expected sometime next week.

Even though NATO forces are to leave Afghanistan, a small number of U.S. and international troops may stay on after 2014 to advise and assist the Afghans. But that is likely contingent on Afghanistan signing a security arrangement with the United States, something Karzai has so far refused to do. And despite the exit of most foreign forces, violence between the Taliban and the Afghan government is expected to continue.

Both presidential candidates — Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister, and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai — have pledged to sign the security deal. Had the vote been resolved, it was expected that Karzai’s successor would have attended the summit in Wales.

The Taliban needled the alliance ahead of the summit.

“Their 13-year-old occupation is now seen as a historical shame,” said their statement, released late Wednesday. “It was planned that Afghanistan’s next leader would participate in the Wales Summit. Now their plans have come to naught.”

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned Thursday that time is short for Afghan leaders to resolve their presidential election and sign a security agreement so allied troops can remain in the country after the end of the year.

Rasmussen said allied nations stand ready to commit assistance and troops, and will reach their $4.1 billion goal for funding Afghan security forces, but some final decisions can’t be made until the political stalemate is over.

Without a signature on the security agreement, Rasmussen said, “there can be no mission. Although our military commanders have shown great flexibility in their planning, time is short. The sooner the legal framework is in place, the better.”

During the summit session, NATO leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the Afghanistan mission, and there was a short ceremony honoring troops that have died in the 13-year conflict.

Because the presidential election is not final, the Afghan defense minister, Gen. Bismullah Khan Mohammadi, represented his country at the summit. Mohammadi reassured U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel during a separate meeting Thursday that both presidential candidates continue to support the security agreement.

The two candidates sent a message to NATO, Rasmussen said, indicating “that they will do all they can to reach a political agreement.”

In other developments, the U.S.-led international military coalition said one of its service members was killed in an attack Thursday in eastern Afghanistan.

NATO spokesman Maj. Paul Greenberg said he could not specify where the service member died but said he did not believe there were any coalition troops at the Ghazni government compound during the Taliban assault.

Information for this article was contributed by Lolita C. Baldor and John-Thor Dahlburg of The Associated Press.