The Spanish government said Saturday a Taliban attack on the diplomatic quarter of the Afghan capital Kabul, in which two Spanish policemen were killed, was “an attack on Spain”.
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The Spanish embassy was earlier reported to be the target of the attack, but Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy clarified that the assault took place near it and not on the compound.
– September 13-14, 2011: At least 15 people are killed in a brazen Taliban attack targeting the U.S. embassy and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation headquarters, which raged for 19 hours in a hail of rockets, grenades and suicide blasts.
Madrid later confirmed that a Spanish policeman was killed in the vehicle bomb, and the second died of injuries sustained in the attack later in hospital.
In addition, one Spanish citizen and nine Afghan civilians were wounded and another 47 Afghans and foreigners were rescued from nearby buildings where they were trapped as security forces sealed off the area around the guest house.
The guest house was left scarred with shrapnel and littered with piles of rubble. Then, the statement says, attackers entered the embassy and engaged in an hour-long shootout with security forces while staff hid in bunkers.
The attack followed a deadly 27-hour siege of Kandahar airport this week.
Zabiullah Mujahid, a purported Taliban spokesman, told local media that the attack was part of the Taliban’s offensive called Azam.
The blast, which interrupted several months of relative calm in the Afghan capital, came after President Ashraf Ghani returned from a regional peace conference in Islamabad aimed at reviving stalled peace talks with Taliban militants.
At least six people were killed in the attack, stated Afghan officials on Saturday morning.
U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said all American chief-of-mission personnel are accounted for and there are no reports of American casualties. The attack that lasted more than 24 hours was also claimed by the Taliban.
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Other fatalities included four Afghan police officers and one employee of the compound, who’s nationality remains unconfirmed, according to Sediq Seddiqi, a Ministry of Interior spokesman.
