Kabul fighting over, all militants killed: Afghan ministry

Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry says Afghan security forces have killed all the militants engaged in the coordinated attacks on the capital Kabul, putting an end to the deadly fighting.

“All attackers are dead, the fighting is over,” Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said on Monday.

Sediqqi added that the Afghan forces were able to clear the last two strongholds of the Taliban attackers in the diplomatic enclave and near the parliament in Wazir Akbar Khan area in Kabul.

In the exchange of fire between the attackers and the security forces, 19 militants were killed, while 14 policemen and nine civilians were injured.

Earlier on Sunday, foreign embassies, NATO’s headquarters and the Afghan parliament were hit by a wave of attacks by Taliban militants.

The militants also targeted government buildings in Logar Province, the airport in Jalalabad, and a police facility in the town of Gardez in Paktya Province.

The Taliban have reportedly referred to the attacks as start of their “spring offensive.”

Insecurity continues to climb across Afghanistan, despite the presence of some 130,000 US-led forces in the country.

—–Agencies