Suicide bombs and gunfire hit Kabul
Updated on 26 February 2010
At least 17 people including an Italian diplomat have been killed and
dozens injured in a series of explosions in the Afghan capital, Kabul. The
Afghan government has condemned the incidents.
Winesses say a suicide bomber attacked an area including a shopping centre, guest house and hotel, with gunfire heard after at least two blasts.
Health Ministry official Sakhi Noorgholi has told reporters it is believed foreigners are among the dead and wounded.
A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, has claimed responsibility for the attacks on behalf of the insurgents in a telephone call to Reuters.
He said five suicide bombers carried out the attacks on two buildings used by foreigners.
Police officer Gulam Mustafa at the scene said authorities think two residential hotels, or guest houses, used by foreign workers in Afghanistan were the targets of the attacks.
Afghan officials said civilians, Afghan policemen and an Indian citizen were among those killed.
Abdul Ghafor Sayedzada, a top investigator for the Kabul police, confirmed the blasts, which woke up residents near the Kabul City Centre, a nine-storey shopping complex that includes the Safi Landmark Hotel.
Shattered glass covers the streets, and a large plume of black smoke is rising from the area.
Afghan police, armed with Kalashnikov rifles, have moved in to secure the streets, taking cover in the doorways of shops.
It is the first attack in the Afghan capital since 18 January, when teams of suicide bombers and gunmen targeted government buildings, leaving 12 dead, including seven attackers.
