Suicide bombers kill 19 in Kabul

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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Eight attackers also died in the assaults, including an attacker outside a third government building, Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said.

The coordinated attacks on the Justice Ministry and a corrections building struck in the heart of Kabul, underscoring the reach of the Taliban beyond their strongholds in the south and east.

Azimi said all eight attackers had suicide vests, but only three assailants detonated them. Five men armed with assault rifles and grenades attacked the Justice Ministry in late morning - and they appeared to control it for at least a short period. But by midday, about two hours after the attacks began, Afghan security forces waved from windows in an apparent all-clear sign, according to an APreporter on the scene. All five attackers were killed in a shootout with security forces. Justice Minister Sarwar Danesh spoke to The Associated Press while he was briefly trapped inside the ministry with a number of employees.

Minister tells of horror
"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," said ministry employee Nazir Mohammad, shaking as he spoke. Another two men blew themselves up at the ministry's correction department in northern Kabul, Azimi said. Afghanistan's Health Minister, Mohammad Amin Fatimie, said at least 19 people were killed between the two attacks.

In a third incident near the Education Ministry, police shot dead another attacker, said police officer Zulmay Khan. No one else was reported to have been killed at that scene and it was unclear if he was targeting the Education Ministry, which is very close to the Justice Ministry. Zabiullah Mujaheed, a spokesman for the Taliban, said the attacks were in response to the alleged mistreatment of Taliban prisoners in Afghan government jails.

Obama has vowed to increase U.S. focus on the resurgent Taliban, including sending more troops to the country and designating an envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan. Richard Holbrooke is currently in Pakistan and expected imminently in Afghanistan. His trip is part of an effort to help the administration chart a new strategy to beat the insurgencies raging in both countries.

Meanwhile, the top international military commander in Afghanistan condemned the deadly attacks as the "barbaric" face of the Taliban, according to account by Agence France-Presse. "This attack shows the real face of the Taliban, who have claimed responsibility for this barbaric action," U.S. General David McKiernan said.

"Once again the Taliban have displayed that they have no respect for Afghan citizens or any desire to see a peaceful future in Afghanistan," he said.