At least eight Taliban fighters have been killed in a seven-hour gun battle in Kabul launched as the insurgents planned an attack in the capital, Aljazeera said on Thursday, citing Afghan officials.
The fighters were killed in a raid conducted by soldiers from Afghanistan's intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), in Kabul's Pul-e Charkhi district, which the fighters were using as a base.
"We have already killed eight insurgents and also seized explosives. They aimed to enter a building in Kabul and launch a combined attack on security forces, government offices or offices belonging to foreigners," an NDS spokesman told Reuters.
The latest attack, which comes as NATO-led foreign troops scale down operations in the country, followed similar attacks in April and June. Taliban fighters launched an attack in central Kabul on April 15, occupying a high-rise construction site and pounding the city's diplomatic and business centre with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire until they were killed. On June 22, Afghan security forces fought a daylong battle with fighters after a Taliban attack on a lakeside hotel on the outskirts of Kabul.
