Taliban storm Traffic Police headquarters in Kabul, killing 1 police

KABUL, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Taliban militants targeted the headquarters of Kabul Traffic Police on Monday morning, killing at least one police and injuring 16 others and thus causing panic among the war-weary residents.

The offensive which triggered counter-attack by security forces, according to a police officer, have so far left one police dead and 16 others injured.

"It was 05:50 a.m. local time when a blast rocked Dehmazang area where Traffic Police headquarters located and the blast followed by gun shots. One police was killed and 16 others sustained injuries," the police officer told Xinhua but declined to be identified, saying authorized officials would brief the media after investigation.

Meantime, General Mohammad Zahir of the Criminal Investigation Department of Kabul police in talks with media at the site confirmed killing two attackers, saying both were probably killed in their blast near the entrance gate of Traffic police headquarters.

However, the security forces have yet to control the situation as some of the attackers are still inside the compound and resisting over the past six hours.

Nevertheless, Zahir asserted that full details will be released whenever the conflict is over.

Taliban outfit, however, claimed responsibility for the blatant attack. Zabihullah Mujahid who claims to speak for the Taliban militants in talks with media via telephone from unknown location asserted that a group of Taliban fighters equipped with suicide vests and assault rifles occupied the four-story Traffic department and from there began attacking government interests including a police base at nearby inflicting casualties to both Afghan and foreign soldiers.

This is the second bold attack carried out by Taliban in the fortified Afghan capital Kabul in less than a week.

In the previous attack, a group of Taliban suicide bombers targeted a compound of Afghan National Directorate for Security ( NDS) or national spy agency on last Wednesday, leaving six people dead presumably all attackers and injuring 30 others, all civilians, according to officials.