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Il Corriere della Sera
Afghanistan, i talebani attaccano Kabul
Offensiva coordinata in diverse parti della città. Prese di mira le ambasciate. Assalto al Parlamento. Almeno 16 morti
MILANO – Battaglia a Kabul. Domenica mattina la capitale afghana si è svegliata con violente esplosioni. Un attacco coordinato. Numerosi talebani armati hanno aperto il fuoco in almeno sette punti della città. Gli estremisti islamici avrebbero cercato di entrare in Parlamento. L’hotel Kabul Star, uno dei più nuovi della capitale, è stato assaltato ed è in fiamme. Un terrorista sarebbe stato ucciso dalla polizia. Sarebbe di almeno 16 morti il bilancio provvisorio degli attacchi. Lo riferisce la Cnn-Ibn a New Delhi.
LE AMBASCIATE- Sotto attacco anche il quartiere super protetto delle ambasciate dove ci sono state almeno sette esplosioni e una serie di sparatorie. Assaltata l’ambasciata iraniana mentre razzi avrebbero colpito la sede diplomatica russa e quella tedesca. Alcune granate sono state sparate contro una residenza usata dai diplomatici britannici a Kabul, durante un attacco coordinato dei talebani nella capitale afghana. La Farnesina spiega che per ora «il personale italiano non è in pericolo». Il portavoce dei talebani Zabiullah Mujahid ha rivendicato la responsabilità degli attacchi in Afghanistan tramite un messaggio inviato ad Associated Press. «Decine dei nostri coraggiosi mujahiddin armati in modo pesante stanno partecipando alle operazioni di Kabul». E questo è solo l’inizio «dell’offensiva di primavera».
IN PARLAMENTO -Attacco anche in Parlamento. Diversi parlamentari afghani si sono uniti alle forze di sicurezza per difendere la sede dell’assemblea legislativa dall’attacco talebano in corso a Kabul. I parlamentari hanno riferito ai media di essere saliti sul tetto dell’edificio e che da lì partecipano alla battaglia. «Sono un rappresentante del popolo», ha detto alla Reuters Naeem Hameedzai, deputato di Kandahar, «e devo difenderlo»
NEL PAESE- Ma l’attacco non è solo a Kabul. Kamikaze sono entrati in azione in diverse province orientale del Paese, tra queste Logar, Paktia, e Nangahar. Due kamikaze hanno provocato diversi feriti facendosi esplodere all’aeroporto di Jalalabad, importante base della Nato.
The New York Times
Taliban Strike Afghan Capital and Provinces
By BY ALISSA J. RUBIN, GRAHAM BOWLEY and SANGAR RAHIMI
KABUL, Afghanistan — In a wave of attacks that rolled through the diplomatic and government centers in the Afghan capital and struck at least three eastern provinces as well, the Taliban on Sunday launched a complex assault using teams of suicide bombers and gunmen who held buildings hours after the first explosions.A NATO spokesman confirmed that multiple attacks had occurred across Kabul, potentially in as many as seven locations.
The attacks in the city began at about 1:35 p.m. and were still under way more than three hours later. The Kabul police said the attacks were focused on two areas — one near the Zanbak Square entry to the Presidential Palace and one near the Parliament.
Gunfire and several explosions were reported in the area near the German and British Embassies and a major NATO military camp, usually a heavily guarded area of the city. Hours later, sustained small-arms fire erupted there again, suggesting that the attackers were still holding ground. Rockets also landed near the British and Canadian Embassies and World Bank office.
The last major attack on a diplomatic installation in Kabul was by suicide bombers on the American Embassy that lasted for 19 hours in September and was blamed on the Haqqani network. The attacks on Sunday bore several of the hallmarks of that episode, including teams of attackers seizing buildings and creating siege conditions in some of the most secure neighborhoods of the capital.
In the upscale residential neighborhood of Wazir Akbar Khan, police were seen rushing past a supermarket a couple of hundred yards from the road that led to the German Embassy and Camp Eggers, the NATO camp that includes many of the top officials that run the training mission.
Sirens sounded at nearby embassies and people were warned to “duck and cover and get away from the windows.”
With each explosion, windows shook in nearby houses. Smoke could be seen rising from some buildings, and witnesses told Reuters that smoke appeared to be billowing from the German embassy.
Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, in a text message to reporters, claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying “We sent suicide bombers to Kabul and they are now taking over Parliament, US Embassy and all diplomatic buildings.”
In Paktia Province, three gunman wearing suicide vests stormed into a building opposite the police training center in Gardez, said Abdul Rahman Mangal, deputy provincial governor of Paktia. They were shooting at the academy with light and heavy weapons. At least four people have been wounded.
In Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan, gunmen armed with suicide vests were firing guns inside the Afghan National Army corps headquarters, which is near the airport, the Nangahar police chief, Abdullah Stanekzai, said.
And in Logar Province, also east of Kabul, officials said four suicide bombers had entered the Mining Ministry building while two others had occupied another building in an effort to target the nearby governor’s office and the National Directorate of Security office, the Afghan intelligence department.
The Guardian
Explosions and gunfire rock Kabul
Taliban claim responsibility for rocket attacks on parliament building and assault on government and diplomatic areas
The Taliban has fired rockets at the Afghan parliament and into the heart of the capital’s diplomatic district as part of an ambitious nationwide “spring assault” on national and foreign targets.
Several attackers took over a multi-storey hotel on the edge of Kabul’s diplomatic district and used it to attack nearby embassies and foreign military headquarters in the heavily fortified area known locally as the “green zone”.
Four suicide attackers also entered an Afghan army aviation training college in the eastern outskirts of the city, said the head of the local district police station.
A witness told Reuters of smoke billowing from buildings apparently inside embassy and military compounds, among them a British diplomatic residence. A witness also described seeing two bodies in the road and another in a pickup truck a block away from the attack.
The Foreign Office said it could not confirm the attack on the British residence, which is part of the embassy compound. “There is an ongoing incident happening in the diplomatic area of Kabul and we are maintaining close contact with the embassy,” a spokeswoman said.
In the west of the city insurgents targeted the legislature, and heavy and light machine gunfire echoed through the deserted streets, with students at a nearby university in lockdown.
“I saw seven or eight rockets fired towards the parliament. None of them hit the building, they landed on the streets around. One was near a man on a bike, and he was thrown to the ground and didn’t move,” said Aminullah Amini, head of the parliament’s media department.
“I ran away from the building with several colleagues when the attack started, but many members of parliament are still inside,” Amini added.
Insurgents also attacked the provincial governor’s headquarters and the Nato military base in Logar province, south of Kabul. In eastern Jalalabad city the airport, also a Nato military base, was targeted by suicide bombers.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks, the first major assault of the year since a local employee with security clearance shot dead two Nato advisers working in the interior ministry in Kabul.
“A big number of soldiers went to do a spring season operation, that started today in Kabul. The headquarters of Isaf (Nato-led security mission in Afghanistan), the NDS (Afghan intelligence service) office, and the British embassy are under attack,” spokesman Zabihullah Mujuahid said.
“They have suicide vests, heavy weapons like RPG, and hand grenades and assault rifles.”
A spokesman for the Nato-led coalition said Afghan and foreign forces were responding to attacks in several locations around Kabul but declined further comment.
Le Monde
Les talibans lancent une série d’attaques en Afghanistan
Les talibans ont lancé une série d’attaques coordonnées, dimanche 15 avril, contre la capitale afghane ainsi que plusieurs provinces du pays, précisant que le quartier général des forces de l’OTAN, le Parlement et l’enclave diplomatique étaient des cibles prioritaires. Ces insurgés islamistes ont considérablement intensifié leur guérilla ces dernières années, jusqu’au cœur de Kaboul.
A Kaboul
Les talibans ont lancé trois attaques concomitantes dans la capitale. Dans le quartier diplomatique, plusieurs explosions et une fusillade ont été entendus près de l’ambassade des Etats-Unis, qui a déclenché l’alerte et a ordonné à son personnel de se mettre à l’abri. Des roquettes ont aussi été tirées contre l’ambassade de Russie. Une grenade a également été lancée contre la maison d’un diplomate britannique. D’intenses échanges de tirs d’armes automatiques et de lance-roquettes retentissaient encore en milieu d’après-midi, selon les journalistes de l’AFP dont le bureau est situé au cœur de ce quartier.Dans le même temps, les talibans ont attaqué le parlement. L’assaut a été repoussé par les forces de l’ordre, selon la police mais les assaillants, dont certains équipés de vestes bourrées d’explosifs, se sont emparé d’un hôtel nouvellement construit, le Kabul Star, d’où ils tirent. Cet hotel, dont une partie brûlait, est situé au cœur d’un quartier du centre qui abrite également une base militaire américaine importante, les bureaux des Nations unies et le palais du président Hamid Karzaï. Au moins un assaillant a été tué dans des échanges de tirs, selon la police.
Dans le sud
Au même moment, un attentat suicide suivi a été perpétré dans la province de Logar, voisine de Kaboul, visant des bâtiments du gouvernement près d’une base américaine, et une fusillade était en cours entre les assaillants et les forces de sécurité, selon la policeLes bâtiments visés comprenaient les bureaux du gouverneur de la province, le quartier général de la police locale et une base américaine, a indiqué à l’AFP le chef adjoint de la police provinciale, Raees Khan.
Dans l’est
Quelques minutes plus tard, plusieurs personnes ont été blessées quand deux kamikazes ont fait exploser leurs bombes à l’entrée de l’aéroport de Jalalabad, dans l’est, qui abrite l’une des plus importantes bases aériennes de la force internationale de l’OTAN (ISAF), tenue par l’armée américaine qui compose plus des deux tiers de ses effectifs dans tout le pays. En tout, ils étaient quatre kamikazes mais les deux autres ont été blessés par les forces de sécurité qui les ont capturés, a déclaré à l’AFP le général Jahangir Azimi, chef de la police de l’aéroport de Jalalabad.Des talibans armés ont aussi lancé une attaque contre un camp d’entraînement de la police afghane à Gardez, dans l’est du pays. Un nombre inconnu d’assaillants, sans doute également munis de vestes bourrées d’explosifs, ont ouvert le feu à l’arme automatique depuis un bâtiment donnant sur un centre d’entraînement de la police, a déclaré à l’AFP Rohullah Samoon, porte-parole provincial de la police, précisant que quatre civils avaient été blessés. L’attaque était toujours en cours.
Ces attaques coordonnées interviennent alors que les talibans ont annoncé la fin de la trêve relative observée chaque hiver et proclamé la reprise de la “saison des combats”. Les insurgés ont multiplié ces dernières années les attaques de plus en plus audacieuses au cœur de Kaboul, pourtant transformée en véritable camp retranché au terme de plus de dix ans de guerre.
En septembre dernier déjà, les talibans avaient lancé des attaques coordonnées dans la capitale, visant notamment l’ambassade des Etats-Unis et une base militaire de l’OTAN, et des combats ayant duré 19 heures avaient fait 14 morts. La force de l’OTAN compte encore quelque 130 000 soldats, essentiellement américains, mais un processus de retrait des troupes combattantes est en cours, censé s’achever fin 2014, face à des opinions publiques occidentales de plus en plus réticentes au maintien de leurs militaires dans ce que les experts qualifient volontiers de bourbier afghan.