Taliban suicide bombers, some dressed as police, killed a policeman in a rare attack on a governor’s compound in Afghanistan’s fiercely anti-Taliban Panjshir valley on Wednesday - a stark indication of their broadening reach.
The attack was the first of its kind in the Panjshir since October 2011. The Panjshir was an important rallying area for anti-Taliban forces that toppled the Islamist group’s government in late 2001.
Two attackers blew themselves up at the entrance of the fortified compound in the pre-dawn assault, which was followed by a 30-minute gun battle during which another three militants were shot dead, Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said.
A sixth escaped from the compound and reached a nearby village. He detonated the explosives-packed vest he was wearing when Afghan police found him there several hours later.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of the militants.
A Reuters reporter who saw the bodies of the attackers near the governor’s compound said they were dressed in Afghan police uniforms. Smoke could be seen rising from scorched windows in the compound and bullet holes in the walls.