Protracted Kabul attack leaves residents terrified

KABUL (Pajhwok): Yesterday’s deadly attack on two government offices has worried the residents of Kabul, who said the standoff lasted eight hours and dead bodies were seen being shifted away from the scene on the day two on Tuesday.

After two powerful blasts, three gunmen stormed the two government buildings – the Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of Social Affairs, Disabled and Martyrs, killing at least 43 people and wounding 27 others.

The attack started at around 03:15 local time (11:45 CET) when a suicide bomber blew up his car outside the Ministry of Public Works where two attackers then entered and the third entered the Ministry of Social Affair.

The gunmen took many of the employees hostage and exchanged fire with security forces. Authorities evacuated 350 civilians from the building before calling off the operation on Monday night.

The worried Kabul residents rushed to the incident site on Tuesday morning to know about their relatives and friends working in the two ministries.

Government employees who survived the attack had also gathered in front of their offices to know the fate of their other colleagues.

A Pajhwok reporter who visited the attack area on Tuesday said the smell of burnt human flesh and explosives was yet to go away.

Mustafa, a Kabul resident, said his cousin was among those killed. “My aunt will slip into coma if she was told her only son and the bread winner is no more.”

A Public Works Ministry employee, Ahmad Sami, said he was at office when all of a sudden an intense gunfire erupted. “When I reached the balcony and looked at the Ministry of Martyrs and Social Affairs  building, I saw some security men lying dead on the road.”

He said he saw the three attackers running towards the Public Works Ministry and before he could inform other colleagues, the attackers fired at him in the balcony.

At this movement, he ran towards colleagues to rescue themselves before the attackers reach.

Imran, an 11-year-old resident of the Old Macro Rayan, said the blast and the firefight shattered their home window glasses and all his family members stayed awoke the entire night.

“I was there when the attack unfolded, a woman standing near me was hit by bullets and four hand-cart owners were also killed in the blast.”

Pajhwok reporter knocked at the door of a house in the area to speak to its residents about the attack, but a man from inside angrily shut the door and refused to talk.

However, another resident, Najibullah, said he was away from home at the time of the attack, but his family was there. “It was a horrible attack which has demoralized the residents.”

Shehla, a woman who was searching for her husband in hospitals, said her spouse worked as a cook at the Ministry of Public Works and she looked for him in hospitals first and then arrived at the ministry but did not find him.

“I will wait here until someone tell me where is my husband,” she said. She said if her husband had been killed, his four children would become orphans.

Pajhwok asked relevant organs about the damage caused by the attack, but they said information in this regard would be shared after an investigation.

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