KABUL // Taliban militants launched a brazen assault on the Afghan parliament on Monday, triggering gunfire and explosions that killed two civilians, including a child.
The assault sent lawmakers scurrying for cover as they were meeting to vote on the appointment of a new defence minister.
Afghan security forces managed to repel the attack, killing all seven assailants. None of the members of parliament were harmed.
The audacious assault came as the Taliban captured two districts in as many days in the country’s north.
Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said the attack began with a car bomb explosion near the entrance to parliament. Gunmen then attempted to storm the compound but were pushed back by security forces and eventually corralled into a nearby building that was under construction.
“It is over now,” Mr Sediqqi said.
Mr Sediqqi said a woman and a 10-year-old girl were killed. Health ministry spokesman Mohammad Ismail Kahousi said 31 civilians were wounded in the parliament attack, including two women and two children.
Sidiqa Mubarez, a member of parliament, said the building was rocked by the large explosion and that some people were wounded by flying glass.
She said the explosion happened shortly after Masoom Stanekzai had arrived to be confirmed as defence minister, a post that has been vacant for nine months.
The vote was delayed by the attack that was claimed by the Taliban.
The militant group’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said it targeted Mr Stanekzai and the parliament itself. He said the assault showed the “capability of the mujahedeen, who can even attack the parliament in the capital”.
Down the street, hundreds of children were evacuated from a school. Parents could be seen racing toward the building, shouting out the names of their children.
Afghan president Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the assault, saying: “Targeting innocent people in the holy month of Ramadan is a clear act of hostility against the religion of Islam.”
The attack on parliament came hours after the Taliban seized a second district in the northern Kunduz province, which has borne the brunt of their annual warm-weather offensive.
Mohammad Yusuf Ayubi, head of the provincial council, said the insurgents attacked the district of Dashti Archi from four sides and took full control of the area early Monday.
He said around 150,000 residents of the district were trapped by the fighting and local forces suffered casualties.
The Taliban said that they had captured the district, as well as ammunition and four tanks.
They also seized control of the Chardara district in Kunduz on Sunday. Afghan forces have struggled to fight off the Taliban since the US and Nato combat mission officially concluded at the end of last year.
More than 2,300 Afghan soldiers, police and pro-government fighters have been killed since the start of the year – more than the total number of US troops killed since the 2001 invasion that ended Taliban rule.
The war on the Taliban has also been hampered by months of bickering between president Ashraf Ghani and his election rival turned chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, which has repeatedly delayed the appointment of a defence minister.
The parliament’s mandate expired on Monday, with no date yet for new elections.
Mr Ghani’s office said on Friday that he would announce a date for new elections within a month.
* Agence France-Presse and Associated Press
