(MENAFN- Daily Outlook Afghanistan) KABUL - Afghan security forces killed five Taliban gunmen who stormed abuilding in Kabul on Monday after detonating a bomb-laden truck that wounded atleast 105 people, including 51 children, officials said.
The gun battle lasted more than seven hours, a security official said,adding that the Taliban fighters in the under-construction building fired atAfghan forces who rushed to the blast site to evacuate the wounded.
'Clashes ended with the death of all five attackers, said interiorministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi, adding that more than 210 people had beenrescued during the operation.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
'The target was the defence ministry's technical installation, theIslamist militants' spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said in a statement.
Afghan security officials said the truck loaded with explosives wasdetonated near the ministry's engineering and logistics department at rushhour.
About 100 wounded people were taken to hospital, said health ministryspokesman Wahidullah Mayar, but there was no immediate word of fatalities.
Fifty-one children in two schools near the blast site were hurt by flyingshards of glass, said Nooria Nazhat, a spokeswoman of the education ministry.
'These children were in the classrooms when the blast shattered the glasswindows. All injured children were rushed out of their schools, said Nazhat.
A security guard at Shamshad TV, a Pashto-language media organisation, waskilled and several employees hurt in their office near the blast site, saiddirector Abid Ehsas.
The area has a cluster of military and government buildings, as well as anoffice of the Afghan Football Federation, whose chief, Yosuf Kargar, was amongseveral members injured, according to spokesman Shafi Shadab.
The attack comes as U.S. special peace envoy for Afghanistan ZalmayKhalilzad holds a seventh round of peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar, aimedat bringing an end to the 18-year war in Afghanistan.
The talks, described by one U.S. official as a 'make-or-break moment, havefocused on issues ranging from counter-terrorism and withdrawal of foreign troopsto an intra-Afghan dialogue and a comprehensive ceasefire.
Two sources at the peace talks said direct negotiations between the warringsides was unlikely to go beyond Monday, but there was no official statementabout the suspension of the ongoing talks.
'The latest attack by the Taliban has changed the entire context of ourmeeting, unease has crept in, said an official present in the room wherenegotiations are underway in Doha.
Sohail Shaheen, spokesman for the Taliban political office in Doha, said thegroup's key concern was to make sure a timeline for a foreign troop pullout isannounced.
Taliban officials have previously said they want all foreign troopswithdrawn before they hold talks with the Afghan government or declare aceasefire.
About 20,000 foreign troops, most of them American, are in Afghanistan aspart of a U.S.-led NATO mission to train, assist and advise Afghan forces. SomeU.S. forces carry out counter-terrorism operations.
Less than a week ago, U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo paid a shortvisit to Kabul and said the Trump administration was hopeful that a peace dealwith the Taliban was achievable by Sept. 1.
Despite peace talks gaining momentum, fighting between the Taliban andAfghan forces who are backed by the foreign troops, has raged acrossAfghanistan.
The ministry of defence said on Monday 67 insurgents were killed in 11provinces in the last 24 hours. The Taliban said their fighters had conducted52 operations against Afghan forces in which more than 170 people were killed.
Both side accuse each other of exaggerating casualty figures to boost themorale of their fighters. (Reueters)
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