Officials: Kabul police station attacked

A police station in the Afghan capital came under militant attack Friday, with at least one explosion and several bursts of gunfire heard, officials said. A man lobbed grenades at the fifth district police station in west Kabul before fleeing but the situation was soon brought under control, Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said. The Taliban have claimed responsibility. "An unidentified man threw two or three grenades at the police station in the fifth district. Nobody has been injured and police are searching to find the attacker. The area is now under control," Stanikzai said. A spokesman for the interior ministry confirmed the attack but said there was just one grenade thrown and nobody had been injured. "An unidentified man threw a grenade at the police station and then fled. Security forces are searching for him. Luckily nobody has been injured," said Sediq Sediqqi. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said a group of suicide bombers had carried out the attack and there were several casualties. The Taliban are known to routinely exaggerate and distort their claims in relation to attacks. An AFP photographer in the area said he had heard several burst of gunfire. He said the power in the area had been temporarily cut and roads had been closed, with a heavy police cordon put up. Kabul is under high security but there have been several spectacular Taliban attacks in the capital this year including in September when a barrage of gunfire and suicide blasts targeted the US embassy and the neighbouring NATO headquarters, leaving several dead. A suicide bombing at a Shiite shrine in Kabul on December 6 killed at least 80 people although the Taliban denied responsibility for that incident.