Kabul: Taliban Attack Government Buildings

Afghanistan's Defence Ministry is reporting 19 people have been killed and 46 wounded in multiple attacks on government buildings.

A spokesman for Afghanistan's Defence Ministry, General Mohammad Zahir Azimi, has stated 19 people were killed and 46 wounded in multiple attacks on government building attacks in Kabul. Apparently, eight attackers also died in the attacks outside the Justice Ministry and other government buildings on Wednesday. Reports say all attackers had suicide vests, but only three assailants set them off. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks. The coordinated attacks came ahead of a visit by Richard Holbrooke, U.S. President Barack Obama's special envoy to the region. Afghan Justice Minister Sarwar Danesh said. "There is still fighting. They used grenades and AK-47s. There are workers still inside the building in their offices." A ministry worker scrambled out of a second-floor window to escape an advancing gunman. "I was in my office on the second floor of the Justice Ministry when I heard the sound of a strong explosion on the first floor. I came out of my office to see what was going on and I saw a man with an AK-47 shooting at every employee he saw in the hall. I saw three employees dead, including one of my colleagues," said Nazir Mohammad. In a different part of the cit, another suicide bomber attacked the ministry's corrections department in another part of the city, said police officer Zulmay Khan. There were a number of casualties from the second attack. Zabiullah Mujaheed is a Taliban spokesman and has said five Taliban fighters attacked the ministry, while two others targeted the corrections department. The attacks were in response to the alleged mistreatment of Taliban prisoners in Afghan government jails "We have warned the Afghan government to stop torturing our prisoners," Mujaheed told the AP in a phone call from an undisclosed location.