Rockets fired at Afghan presidential palace

International Desk: The Taliban have fired a pair of rockets towards the presidential palace in Kabul during a live broadcast by Ashraf Ghani to mark the Muslim celebrations of Eid al-Adha, police have said.

The first rocket landed somewhere near the palace, the second near a Nato compound and the US embassy in Kabul but no one was hurt, the police official Jan Agha said.

The boom of the rockets was heard during the broadcast of Ghani’s speech. The president interrupted his message to say: “If they are thinking the rocket attack will keep Afghans down, they are wrong.”

There was no immediate statement from the Taliban, or a claim of responsibility for the attack by any other militant group, but the assault on the major Muslim holiday sent a stark message.

It was also another blow to Ghani’s efforts to bring the insurgents to the negotiating table and hold peace talks to end the country’s 17-year war.

The area where the rockets hit is one of the most secure in the heavily fortified area of Kabul, where embassies and Afghan government buildings are surrounded by high cement blast walls and coils of razor wire. Many streets near the US embassy are closed off, as well as those near sensitive government and military locations.

A Kabul police spokesman, Hashmat Stanekzia, said officers had noticed a suspicious vehicle earlier on Tuesday morning and followed it to a house near the Eid Gah mosque where hundreds had gathered to offer their prayers for Eid al-Adha.

Source: Agencies

risingbd/Dhaka/August 21, 2018/A K Azad