KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Taliban insurgents wearing explosive vests attacked a police headquarters in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, unleashing an arsenal of car bombs, automatic rifle fire and rocket-propelled grenades. At least 18 people, many of them police, died and dozens were wounded.
The afternoon raid on the provincial police base in Kandahar appeared to be an effort to undercut NATO assertions that the security situation had improved since last year’s influx of U.S. and Afghan troops into Kandahar province, the Taliban’s birthplace.
The Islamic militant movement claimed responsibility for the attack, which came amid American-backed efforts to train Afghan forces so that they can take responsibility for national security by a 2014 deadline.
Fifteen of at least 18 people killed were Afghan police officers, said Zalmai Ayubi, spokesman for provincial governor of Kandahar. Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary in Kabul said 21 people were killed, including three Afghan soldiers, two civilians and one intelligence agent, and that 49 people were wounded.
Both officials said five suicide bombers also died. Ayubi said a sixth attacker was taken into custody.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that the group had deployed six suicide bombers in Kandahar on Saturday.
Insurgents struck around noon, detonating explosives near the police headquarters in central Kandahar. The compound is close to the governor’s office.
Initial reports indicated a car bomb exploded outside the headquarters, and two suicide bombers then tried to storm inside but blew themselves up outside the perimeter wall, according to NATO officials in Kandahar.
Other attackers occupied a multistory building housing a wedding hall across the street from the police compound. From there, they opened fired.
“I was going to my shop just behind the police headquarters when the first blast occurred. I stopped, and after a minute or two, guns started firing,” said witness Abdul Kadeer Ahmed.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the attack was aimed at disrupting the peace process, a reference to his government’s efforts to reconcile with top Taliban leaders — even though no official negotiations are underway.
