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Taliban attack on Afghan bank
At least nine dead and more than 70 wounded as suicide bombers storm Kabul Bank in eastern city of Jalalabad.
Last Modified: 19 Feb 2011 15:13 GMT
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Kabul Bank is Afghanistan's top private lender that handles salaries for the Afghan police and armed forces [Reuters] Gunmen dressed as border police have killed at least nine people and wounded more than 70 in an attack on a bank in the main city in Afghanistan's east, witnesses and government officials have said.
Al Jazeera has learned that at least seven suicide bombers stormed a branch of the Kabul Bank in Jalalabad city on Saturday and detonated their explosives. The situation is ongoing and gunfire is still being heard at the scene.
"They shot the bank tellers first. I saw dead and wounded people inside the bank"
Sediqullah Momand,
Afghan witness
Baz Mohammad Sherzad, a senior health official in Nangarhar province, of which Jalalabad is the capital, said nine deaths had been confirmed so far.
Ahmadzia Abdulzai, a spokesman for the Nangarhar government, said fighting was still going on and that police and civilians were among the casualties. He described the scene as "chaotic".
The Taliban later claimed responsibility for the attack, saying suicide bombers had entered the bank when Afghan security forces were collecting their salaries.
The motive for the attack was not immediately clear, although co-ordinated assaults by the Taliban against government buildings and military bases have increased in recent years, especially in eastern provinces near the Pakistan border.
Taliban fighters often dress in the uniforms of Afghan security forces, or as women, at the start of such attacks.
It is rare for the Taliban to launch complex attacks with robbery as their primary motive.
Violence across Afghanistan last year reached its worst levels since the Taliban were toppled by US-backed Afghan forces in 2001, with civilian and military casualties at record levels, despite the presence of about 150,000 foreign troops.
Witness accounts
"I was inside the bank when seven gunmen in border police uniform attacked," a government employee who identified himself only as Salman and was wounded in the attack, said.
"My brother was killed by them," he said.
Another witness, Sediqullah Momand, said: "They shot the bank tellers first. I saw dead and wounded people inside the bank."
Politically well-connected Kabul Bank is mired in a corruption scandal [AFP] Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, condemned the attack.
Traffic from Jalalabad to the capital, Kabul, was blocked by Afghan police and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops, witnesses said.
One man was seen running from the area with his clothes covered in blood.
An ISAF spokesman in Kabul said the coalition was aware of an incident in Jalalabad and was investigating.
The politically well-connected Kabul Bank, Afghanistan's top private lender, is mired in a corruption scandal that could have grave political consequences for Karzai and his government.
The International Monetary Fund has painted a grim picture of the government's handling of the crisis, in which hundreds of millions of dollars have been put at risk through mismanagement, fraud and bad loans, and is considering whether to renew its support for Afghanistan.
That would trigger a review of other commitments by international donors, who provide billions of dollars a year in aid to Afghanistan.
The growing bank crisis is especially worrying because it coincides with efforts by foreign forces to begin the gradual process of withdrawing their troops and handing security responsibility to Afghan forces by 2014.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
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Taliban attack on Afghan bank
At least nine dead and more than 70 wounded as suicide bombers storm Kabul Bank in eastern city of Jalalabad.
Last Modified: 19 Feb 2011 15:13 GMT
Email Article
Print Article
Share Article
Send Feedback
Kabul Bank is Afghanistan's top private lender that handles salaries for the Afghan police and armed forces [Reuters] Gunmen dressed as border police have killed at least nine people and wounded more than 70 in an attack on a bank in the main city in Afghanistan's east, witnesses and government officials have said.Al Jazeera has learned that at least seven suicide bombers stormed a branch of the Kabul Bank in Jalalabad city on Saturday and detonated their explosives. The situation is ongoing and gunfire is still being heard at the scene.
"They shot the bank tellers first. I saw dead and wounded people inside the bank"
Sediqullah Momand,
Afghan witness
Baz Mohammad Sherzad, a senior health official in Nangarhar province, of which Jalalabad is the capital, said nine deaths had been confirmed so far.
Ahmadzia Abdulzai, a spokesman for the Nangarhar government, said fighting was still going on and that police and civilians were among the casualties. He described the scene as "chaotic".
The Taliban later claimed responsibility for the attack, saying suicide bombers had entered the bank when Afghan security forces were collecting their salaries.
The motive for the attack was not immediately clear, although co-ordinated assaults by the Taliban against government buildings and military bases have increased in recent years, especially in eastern provinces near the Pakistan border.
Taliban fighters often dress in the uniforms of Afghan security forces, or as women, at the start of such attacks.
It is rare for the Taliban to launch complex attacks with robbery as their primary motive.
Violence across Afghanistan last year reached its worst levels since the Taliban were toppled by US-backed Afghan forces in 2001, with civilian and military casualties at record levels, despite the presence of about 150,000 foreign troops.
Witness accounts
"I was inside the bank when seven gunmen in border police uniform attacked," a government employee who identified himself only as Salman and was wounded in the attack, said.
"My brother was killed by them," he said.
Another witness, Sediqullah Momand, said: "They shot the bank tellers first. I saw dead and wounded people inside the bank."
Politically well-connected Kabul Bank is mired in a corruption scandal [AFP] Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, condemned the attack.Traffic from Jalalabad to the capital, Kabul, was blocked by Afghan police and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops, witnesses said.
One man was seen running from the area with his clothes covered in blood.
An ISAF spokesman in Kabul said the coalition was aware of an incident in Jalalabad and was investigating.
The politically well-connected Kabul Bank, Afghanistan's top private lender, is mired in a corruption scandal that could have grave political consequences for Karzai and his government.
The International Monetary Fund has painted a grim picture of the government's handling of the crisis, in which hundreds of millions of dollars have been put at risk through mismanagement, fraud and bad loans, and is considering whether to renew its support for Afghanistan.
That would trigger a review of other commitments by international donors, who provide billions of dollars a year in aid to Afghanistan.
The growing bank crisis is especially worrying because it coincides with efforts by foreign forces to begin the gradual process of withdrawing their troops and handing security responsibility to Afghan forces by 2014.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
Email Article
Print Article
Share Article
Send Feedback
Topics in this article People
Country
City
Organisation
- Taliban
- International Security Assistance Force
- Afghan police
- Nangarhar government
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- International Monetary Fund
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Anonymous and the global correction
A loosely organised group of hackers is targeting oppressive regimes and says this is just the beginning.
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The Egyptian revolution has resurrected a new type of pan-Arabism, based on social justice not empty slogans.