By Xinhua,
KABUL : In the latest wave of violence but pronged and coordinated attacks, the Taliban insurgents targeted several government buildings including the Justice Ministry Wednesday morning killing at least 19 people and wounding 54 others, Public Health Ministry spokesman Abdul Fahim said.
The militants almost at the same time targeted a detention center of the Justice Ministry in Khair Khana area and the building of the Justice Ministry located hundreds of yard away from the fortified Presidential Palace.
The first attack took place in the Justice Ministry, which is located in the heart of the capital near the Finance Ministry and the south gate of the Presidential Palace.
A group of bombers with explosive vet strapped to their bodies broke in the ministry with machine, witnesses said.
“As a result of terrorist attacks in Kabul today 19 people were killed and 54 others sustained injuries some of them in critical condition,” Fahim told Xinhua.
Vast majority of the victims are civilians, he said.
The attackers, according to militant’s mouthpiece Zabihullah Mujahid, were 16, entered Kabul to target government buildings.
He also contended that militants would attack more government buildings.
It is the first time that the insurgents has carried out multiple attacks in a single day causing panic among the war-weary Afghans who have enormously suffered due to protracted wars over the past three decades.
Today’s attacks occurred while U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan is expected to visit Kabul in this week.
Earlier, the militia claimed responsibility for deadly car bomb blast in mid-January in front of the German embassy that left over 20 dead and injured.
Taliban militants who staged a boldly comeback three years ago in their traditional hotbed in south Afghanistan have been mounting pressure on the capital city Kabul since the beginning of 2008.
Conflicts and Taliban-linked insurgency had left over 5,000 people, with some 2,000 civilians dead, in 2008 while the violence is predicted to go up in 2009 as U.S. government has announce reinforcement of 30,000 more troops for curbing the militancy in the post-Taliban central Asian state.