Taliban suicide bombers carried out a brazen attack in the Afghan capital Monday, the second in less than a week and a sign that insurgents are determined to keep fighting despite recent overtures of peace from the United States and the Afghan government.
A teenage suicide bomber blew himself up outside NATO headquarters in the Afghan capital on Saturday, killing at least six civilians in a strike that targeted the heart of the U.S.-led military operation in the country, officials said.
Heavily armed Taliban insurgents stormed into a lakeside hotel north of Kabul and opened fire on guests inside, killing 18 people — most civilians — before the 12-hour long rampage ended Friday morning, Afghan officials said.
Two Afghan government sources say former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani has been killed in the capital Kabul.
Taliban insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles at the U.S. Embassy, NATO headquarters and other buildings in the heart of the capital Tuesday while suicide bombers struck police buildings in an attack blitz that displayed the ability of militants to bring their fight to the doorsteps of Western power in Afghanistan.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed Wednesday that his army and police would be ready to take over from foreign forces as planned despite a brazen assault on one of Kabul's premier hotels that left 19 people dead — including all eight attackers.
A suicide bomber killed eight people, including five foreigners, inside a high-end grocery store on Friday in the heart of a heavily guarded district that's home to many diplomats and Westerners.
The number of civilians killed in the Afghan war jumped 21 percent in the first half of 2010 compared with the similar period last year, with insurgents responsible for the spike, the United Nations said in a report Tuesday.
