The Taliban have fired rockets that landed near the Afghan presidential palace interrupting a live Eid holiday speech by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani a few hours ago.
Afghan security forces reacted to the attack by bombing the house where the rockets apparently originated from.
According to afghan security sources, the first rocket landed not too far from the presidency building while the second missile nearly hit a NATO compound as well as the US Embassy in the area but no injuries was recorded.
Witnesses say the loud bang of the rockets as they hit ground was heard in the live broadcast of President’s speech. As he also heard the thud, President Ghani interrupted his message to say;
“If they are thinking the rocket attack will keep Afghans down, they are wrong.”
The area hit by the rockets is the most fortified area in Afghanistan and it hosts embassies and government buildings which are protected by high cement blast walls and coils of barbed wire.
Afghan police while confirming the attacks say a suspicious vehicle was observed by several security agents earlier on Tuesday morning which they followed to a mud-brick home near the sprawling Eid Gah mosque where hundreds had gathered to offer their prayers for the Eid al-Adha holiday.
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The police say they believed it was the occupants of the suspicious vehicle that fired the rockets from the mud-brick house. A helicopter gunship was subsequently called in and bombed the location, destroying both the house and the vehicle.
Eyewitnesses also reported sporadic gunfire coming from the area after the helicopter had destroyed the house, although it was unclear who was carrying out the shooting
Another Police source however said four attackers were apparently involved though it was unclear if any survived the helicopter assault on the house.
Police were combing the area in the heart of Kabul, where crowded open-air markets intrude on old residential areas of mostly poor, mud-brick homes.
The attacks come after the Afghan President offered the Taliban a 4 day ceasefire in honour of the Muslim Eid celebrations.
The Taliban has however denied knowledge of the attacks with the leadership saying it didn’t order any strikes against Afghan forces even though it had rejected the ceasefire offer of the Afghan President
The Taliban have been at war with the US-backed Afghan government for nearly 17 years, and have stepped up attacks in recent months, seizing rural districts and carrying out major assaults against Afghan security forces as well as government compounds on an almost daily basis.