| Kabul Parliament attack | |
|---|---|
| Part of the2015 War in Afghanistan | |
  Kabul Kabul (Afghanistan) | |
| Location | Kabul, Afghanistan |
| Date | June 22, 2015 |
| Target | National Assembly |
Attack type | Car bombing,mass shooting |
| Weapons | AK-47 assault rifles RPG launchers |
| Deaths | 9 total 2 civilian 7 Taliban |
| Injured | 40(civilian) |
| Perpetrators | Taliban |
| Motive | Attack targeting newdefense minister Mohammed Masoom Stanekzai |
The2015 Kabul Parliament attack occurred on June 22, 2015, when members of theTaliban detonated acar bomb outside theNational Assembly inKabul then attacked the building withassault rifles andRPGs.[1][2] Two civilians and seven Taliban died in the attack.
In 2014,the US and NATO powers withdrew most of their combat troops, leaving 13,000 troops in theResolute Support Mission to continue serving in an advisory and counter-terror capacity. From2015 onwards, the ongoing war against the Taliban insurgency has been fought primarily by the Afghan security forces.ISIL, which has taken territory in Iraq, has declared their support for the Taliban, carrying out a suicide bomb attack inJalalabad in April that killed more than 30 people and injured 100 others.[3]
The attack came amid intensifying Taliban attacks around the Northern city ofKunduz, as part of a major offensive in an attempt to capture the city.[4][5][6] Tens of thousands of inhabitants have been displaced internally in Afghanistan by the fighting. TheKunduz province has been a region of heavy fightingfrom 2009 onwards.
A Taliban fighter driving a car loaded with explosives managed to get through security checkpoints before detonating the vehicle outside the parliament's gates. Six Taliban insurgents withAK-47 rifles andRPGs took up positions in a construction site nearby.[7] Members of Parliament were evacuated to safety, while security forces battled the insurgents in a two-hour gun battle. Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said all seven attackers were killed by police and no MPs were wounded.[8]
The UN mission in Afghanistan says a woman and a child were killed in the attack, and 40 civilians were injured.[9]
Taliban spokesmanZabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it was timed to coincide with a parliamentary speech of the newdefense ministerMohammed Masoom Stanekzai.
Lt. Gen. Abdul Rahman Rahimi, Kabul's Chief of Police, says that the police will investigate how the attackers got so close to parliament.[2]
