Secular Café: Taleban start spring offensive in Afghanistan

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Taleban start spring offensive in Afghanistan Apr 15th 2012, 23:10 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17719956 Quote: Fighting is continuing in Kabul where militants have staged a wave of co-ordinated gun and rocket attacks. Foreign embassies, Nato's HQ and the Afghan parliament were hit in the first major attack on Kabul in more than six months. The attackers also struck in the provinces of Logar, Paktia and Nangarhar. The Taliban said it was the start of a "spring offensive" . Two Afghan security force members and 17 militants were reportedly killed. A further 17 Afghan police officers and nine civilians were injured, the Afghan interior ministry said... ...The attackers focused their assault on Western embassies in the central diplomatic area and around parliament but also attacked international troops in the east of the city. The Taliban listed as targets the German and British embassies, the Kabul Star hotel, the headquarters of the Nato-led international force (Isaf), and parliament house... ...At the parliament, a number of MPs joined the fight against the insurgents, Kandahar lawmaker Naeem Hameedzai Lalai said. Speaking to the Associated Press news agency, said he had climbed the tower of the parliament building and fired on insurgents with an assault rifle. "I shot up to 400 or 500 bullets from my Kalashnikov at the attackers," he said. "They fired two rocket-propelled grenades at the parliament."... ...Some damage was reported to the embassies of Germany and Japan but Russia denied reports that its mission had been hit "despite the close proximity of the fighting". In eastern Kabul, in the Camp Warehouse area, a convoy of French troops returned fire after coming under attack. Greek and Turkish troops manning a nearby base also came under heavy attack and responded with machine-guns, AP reports... ...Suicide bombers attacked a US air base near the eastern city of Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province. Four civilians were wounded and seven insurgents were killed, police said. The dead reportedly include four suicide attackers dressed in burqas and women's clothes, who were shot dead while making an attack. And the Pakistani Taleban staged a huge prison breakout. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17718010 Quote: Almost 400 prisoners have escaped from a prison in Pakistan after it was attacked by Islamist militants... Officials said some of the freed men were "dangerous" insurgents, including an inmate on death row for trying to kill ex-President Pervez Musharraf.

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