Afghan Taliban militants said they attacked police, military and intelligence targets in Kabul on Wednesday and security officials confirmed attacks in at least two areas of the city.

A resounding explosion was heard across the city followed immediately by gunfire between security forces and an unknown number of attackers in the west of Kabul.

The fighting was concentrated near a district police headquarters not far from a military training school, according to one police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

A security official said one attacker was barricaded inside the police building.

A separate attack appeared to have targeted an office of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, the National Directorate for Security (NDS), on the eastern outskirts of Kabul. However a senior army official said that attack appeared to have been quickly suppressed.

“Two terrorists entered a building. One blew himself up and the second was shot by Afghan security forces,” said Abdul Nasir Ziaee, commander of 111th corps based in the east of the city.

The Taliban, who sometimes exaggerate the impact of their operations, said the attacks had caused heavy casualties.

An official from the ministry of public health said one person had been killed in the attack on the NDS office while at least 35 people had been wounded and transferred to hospital in the attack on the police office in western Kabul.

Last month, a suicide bomber killed at least 20 people outside the Supreme Court in Kabul. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for that attack.

The Taliban are seeking to expel foreign troops, defeat the U.S.-backed government and reimpose Islamic law after their 2001 ouster.

The Wednesday attacks come shortly ahead of the period when the Taliban usually announce a spring offensive, and underline warnings from Afghan officials that they faced a difficult year.

Government forces have struggled to control the insurgency since a NATO-led force ended its combat mission in 2014.

According to U.S. estimates, Afghan government forces now control less than 60 percent of the country although they hold all main provincial centers.</s>KABUL, Afghanistan – Near-simultaneous Taliban suicide bombings and an hours-long shootout with Afghan security forces left at least 16 people dead and over 100 wounded in Kabul on Wednesday – a stark reminder of the militants’ ability to stage large-scale and complex attacks in the country’s capital.

The brazen noon-time attacks also underscored the challenges the government continues to face as it grapples with the 15-year-long insurgency and struggles to improve security for ordinary Afghans.

In one of the twin attacks, a suicide car bomber rammed his vehicle into the gates of a sprawling police compound in western Kabul. The explosion was followed by a gunbattle between security forces and several gunmen who stormed into the complex, said Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

Thick black smoke rose above the grounds, and several rounds of small-arms fire and subsequent explosions were heard from inside, according the Mohammad Naser, a shopkeeper who has a store nearby. Dozens of windows were shattered on surrounding houses and shops, he added.

The compound includes Kabul’s so-called Sixth Police Station and is located next to the country’s military school, which might have been the original target, along with cadets attending classes there.

HOURS LATER, the gunbattle ended with all the attackers killed, said Sadiq Muradi of the Kabul police chief’s office. Security forces were carrying out a clean-up operation following the attack, he added.

Wahid Mujro, the public health ministry spokesman, said 15 people were killed in the police compound.

The second attack took place in eastern Kabul where a suicide bomber on foot detonated his explosives outside the offices of the country’s intelligence service, killing one person. A total of 104 people were wounded in both attacks, Mujro said.

In a message to media, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for both attacks. It was not immediately clear how many gunmen were involved in the attack on the Kabul police complex.

“We were in the dining room, eating lunch when a loud explosion happened. I couldn’t see anything for a while,” said Manizha, a policewoman who like many women in Afghanistan uses only one name.

She said she managed to escape from the compound as the gunbattle continued inside.

President Ashraf Ghani issued a statement condemning the attacks, saying that “terrorists and their alien masters once again tried to create an atmosphere of terror and fear in Kabul.”

Ghani linked the attacks to the recent death of a senior Taliban commander, known as Mullah Salaam, in northeastern Kunduz province and said the insurgents are trying to attack urban centers to boost morale among their followers.

Meanwhile, the Taliban gained control Wednesday of local government headquarters in a district in northern Baghlan province, after almost three days of intense battles with Afghan security forces, according to local officials.

Abdul Satar Barez, the provincial governor, said he could not confirm that the whole district of Tala Wa Barfak has fallen to the Taliban but said a number of checkpoints have fallen to the insurgents amid clashes Wednesday.

A provincial security official said the security forces left their checkpoints and withdrew from the entire district, which is now in Taliban hands. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, tweeted that their fighters have overrun the Tala Wa Barfak headquarters.

Afghanistan has been wracked by violence as the Taliban continue to press their offensive into the winter months, targeting mainly government forces and the Afghan military but with scores of civilians getting caught up in the deadly violence.

The government is also facing an Islamic State affiliate, which is seeking to expand its footprint in the country beyond the eastern Nangarhar province.

Since the withdrawal of NATO combat forces from Afghanistan at the end of 2014 that left a smaller, mainly training and support mission of U.S. and other Western troops, the Taliban have tried to take their war into urban centers as well.

In September 2015, insurgents overran and briefly held Kunduz, the capital of the strategically important Kunduz province, a breadbasket region that borders Tajikistan to the north and sits on a major crossroad in the country. It was the first time the militant group had taken a major city.

Kunduz came under threat again last April, when Afghan forces aided by U.S. troops and air power pushed the Taliban back into the surrounding districts.

In southern Helmand province, where most of Afghanistan’s opium comes from Taliban-controlled poppy fields, the insurgents have gained full control of five of the province’s 14 districts and effectively control eight others where just small pockets government-held territory remain.

The militants are also now closing in on Helmand’s capital of Lashkar Gah, where a wave of assaults and suicide attacks killed dozens in recent months.

Associated Press writers Amir Shah and Karim Sharifi in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.</s>Afghan police say two suicide bombers have struck Kabul in attacks claimed by the Taliban, killing at least 16 people and wounding about 40.

One suicide car bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into the compound gates of a district police headquarters in western Kabul as part of a coordinated attack on March 1, Interior Ministry deputy spokesman Najib Danish said.

Danish said several militants stormed into the compound and engaged police in a gunbattle inside the facility.

Thick smoke billowed above the police compound, and several rounds of small arms fire as well as other explosions were heard.

The battle took place in an area that was not far from a military training school.

Meanwhile, Danish said a second suicide bomber walked up to an office in eastern Kabul of Afghanistan's national intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security, and detonated his explosives.

He said at least two people were wounded in that attack.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for both attacks on behalf of the militant group.

The attacks came at a time when the Taliban normally announces its annual spring offensive.

The Taliban in Afghanistan is seeking to reimpose its rule after being driven from power following a U.S.-led invasion in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Afghan government forces have struggled to control the Taliban insurgency since the NATO-led coalition ended its combat mission in 2014 and most foreign combat forces withdrew.

According to U.S. estimates, the Afghan government now controls less than 60 percent of the country, though its forces have managed to hold on to all of the main provincial centers.

Afghan forces now face mounting pressure from a resurgent Taliban amid record casualties and mass desertions as the militants escalate attacks across the country.

Last month, a suicide bomber killed at least 20 people outside Afghanistan's Supreme Court in Kabul. The so-called Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for that attack.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, and dpa</s>Afghan Taliban militants said they attacked police, military and intelligence targets in Kabul on Wednesday and security officials confirmed attacks in at least two areas of the city that killed at least three people and wounded dozens. A resounding explosion was heard across the city as a car bomb was detonated near a police headquarters in the west of the city, the interior ministry said. The blast was followed immediately by gunfire between security forces and an unknown number of attackers.

Fighting at the police headquarters, not far from a military training school, lasted for several hours with gunmen barricaded inside the building. Najib Danesh, a spokesman for the interior ministry, said the attack was suppressed by late afternoon and security forces were conducting checks of the area.

A separate attack appeared to have targeted an office of Afghanistan’s main intelligence agency, the National Directorate for Security (NDS), on the eastern outskirts of Kabul. However a senior army official said that attack was quickly suppressed. “Two terrorists entered a building. One blew himself up and the second was shot by Afghan security forces,” said Abdul Nasir Ziaee, commander of 111th corps based in the east of the city.

A spokesman for the Taliban, who sometimes exaggerate the impact of their operations, sent a statement claiming responsibility for the attacks, which he said had caused heavy casualties. An official from the ministry of public health said at least three people had been killed and at least 38 people had been wounded and transferred to hospital in the two attacks.

Last month, a suicide bomber killed at least 20 people outside the Supreme Court in Kabul. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for that attack. The Taliban are seeking to expel foreign troops, defeat the U.S.-backed government and reimpose Islamic law after their 2001 ouster.

The Wednesday attacks come shortly ahead of the period when the Taliban usually announce a spring offensive, and underline warnings from Afghan officials that they faced a difficult year. Government forces have struggled to control the insurgency since a NATO-led force ended its combat mission in 2014. According to U.S. estimates, Afghan government forces now control less than 60 percent of the country although they hold all main provincial centres.</s>KABUL - Sixteen people were killed Wednesday in simultaneous Taliban suicide assaults on two security compounds in Kabul, as the insurgents ramp up attacks even before the start of their annual spring offensive.

Dozens of others were wounded as explosions and gunfire echoed through the capital, in a day of carnage that underscores rising insecurity in Afghanistan over the resurgent Taliban.

A suicide car bomber struck an Afghan police precinct in western Kabul and a gun battle ensued after another attacker snuck in, officials said, in a five-hour assault which sent clouds of acrid smoke billowing into the sky.

In the second attack, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the gates of an Afghan intelligence agency branch in eastern Kabul while another assailant was gunned down while trying to enter the compound, officials added.

"Fifteen people were killed in the attack on the police compound and one person died in the second assault," health ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh told AFP, warning that the toll could spike further. "At least 104 others were wounded, some of them seriously."

The Taliban claimed both assaults, with spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid calling them "martyrdom attacks" in a Twitter message. The insurgents also asserted responsibility for a third attack on a military school, but the authorities dismissed the claim.

Afghan police and troops are battling an emboldened Taliban as the insurgents escalate nationwide attacks, even in winter months when the fighting usually wanes.

The country is bracing for an intense new Taliban fighting season in the spring as the government's repeated bids to launch peace negotiations have failed.

But in a statement condemning the attack, President Ashraf Ghani said the Taliban were "launching such attacks to raise the morale of their fighters" after the recent killing of insurgent commander Mullah Salam.

Salam, who twice oversaw the capture of the strategic northern city of Kunduz, was killed on Sunday in a US air strike in a blow to the militant group.

"We share the sorrow of all Afghans over these heinous acts," said the US embassy in Kabul, condemning the attack. "To callously target Afghan men and women who devote their lives to serving and defending their fellow citizens, as the Taliban did today, is an act of extraordinary cowardice."

The latest violence comes two days after an Afghan policeman linked to the Taliban shot dead 11 of his colleagues at a checkpoint in the southern province of Helmand, in the latest so-called insider attack.

Such attacks - when Afghan soldiers and police turn their guns on their colleagues or on international troops - have sapped morale and caused deep mistrust within security ranks.

Afghan forces, already beset by record casualties, desertions and non-existent "ghost soldiers" on the payrolls, have been struggling to rein in the Taliban since US-led NATO troops ended their combat mission in December 2014. Kabul last month endorsed US general John Nicholson's call for thousands of additional coalition troops in Afghanistan to fend off the militants before the spring offensive.

Extra troops were needed to end the stalemate in the war, Nicholson, the top US commander in Afghanistan, told the US Congress in what could be President Donald Trump's first major test of military strategy.

Separately, the Pentagon this year said it would deploy some 300 US Marines this spring to Helmand province alone.

The Marines will assist a NATO-led mission to train Afghan forces, in the latest sign that foreign forces are increasingly being drawn back into the worsening conflict.</s>KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A pair of near-simultaneous Taliban suicide bombings struck the Afghan capital on Wednesday, targeting a sprawling police compound and offices of the country’s intelligence agency and killing 16 people in all, officials said.

In the attack on the police compound, a suicide car bomber rammed his car into the gates of the complex, located in western Kabul. The explosion was followed by a gunbattle between police and several attackers who stormed into the compound, said Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

Thick black smoke rose above the police complex, and several rounds of small-arms fire and subsequent explosions were heard from inside, according the Mohammad Naser, a shopkeeper who has a store nearby. Dozens of windows were shattered on surrounding houses and shops, he added.

The compound includes Kabul’s so-called Sixth Police Station and is located next to the country’s military school, which might have been the original target, along with cadets attending classes there.

Hours later the gunbattle ended with all the attackers killed, said Sadiq Muradi of the Kabul police chief’s office. Security forces were carrying out a clean-up operation following the attack, he added.

Wahid Mujro, the public health ministry spokesman, said 15 people were killed in the police compound and 43 were wounded.

The second attack in the Afghan capital took place in eastern Kabul, when a suicide bomber on foot detonated his explosives outside the offices of the intelligence service. One person was killed and another was wounded in that attack, Mujro said.

In a message to media, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for both attacks.

It was not immediately clear how many gunmen were involved in the police station attack.

“We were in the dining room, eating lunch when a loud explosion happened. I couldn’t see anything for a while,” said Manizha, a policewoman who like many women in Afghanistan uses only one name.

She said she managed to escape from the compound as the gunbattle continued inside.

President Ashraf Ghani issued a statement condemning the attacks, saying that “terrorists and their alien masters once again tried to create an atmosphere of terror and fear in Kabul.”

Ghani linked the attacks to the recent death of a senior Taliban commander, known as Mullah Salaam, in northeastern Kunduz province and said the insurgents are trying to attack urban centers to boost morale among their followers.

Meanwhile, the Taliban gained control Wednesday of local government headquarters in a district in northern Baghlan province, after almost three days of intense battles with Afghan security forces, according to local officials.

Abdul Satar Barez, the provincial governor, said he could not confirm that the whole district of Tala Wa Barfak has fallen to the Taliban but said a number of checkpoints have fallen to the insurgents amid clashes Wednesday.

A provincial security official said the security forces left their checkpoints and withdrew from the entire district, which is now in Taliban hands. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, tweeted that their fighters have overrun the Tala Wa Barfak headquarters.

Associated Press writers Amir Shah and Karim Sharifi in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.</s>Afghan Taliban militants said they attacked police, military and intelligence targets in Kabul on Wednesday, as security officials confirmed attacks in two areas of the city that killed at least 15 people and wounded dozens.

A powerful explosion was heard across the city as a car bomb was detonated near a police headquarters in the west of the city, the interior ministry said. The blast was followed immediately by gunfire between security forces and an unknown number of attackers.

Fighting at police headquarters, not far from a military training school, lasted for several hours with gunmen barricaded inside the building.

Najib Danesh, a spokesman for the interior ministry, said the attack was neutralised by late afternoon and security forces were conducting checks of the area.

He said 15 people, including 11 civilians, were killed in the attack and in a separate attack minutes later at an office of Afghanistan’s main intelligence agency, the National Directorate for Security (NDS), to the east of Kabul.

Another 50 people, including women and children, were wounded in the two attacks.

A senior army official said the attack on the NDS office was over more quickly.

“Two terrorists entered a building. One blew himself up and the second was shot by Afghan security forces,” said Abdul Nasir Ziaee, commander of 111th corps based in the east of the city.

A spokesman for the Taliban, who sometimes exaggerate the impact of their operations, sent a statement claiming responsibility for the attacks, which he said had killed dozens of soldiers, police and intelligence officials.

Last month, a suicide bomber killed at least 20 people outside the Supreme Court in Kabul. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for that attack.

The Taliban are seeking to expel foreign troops, defeat the U.S.-backed government and reimpose Islamic law after their 2001 ouster.

The Wednesday attacks come shortly ahead of the period when the Taliban usually announce a spring offensive, and underline warnings from Afghan officials that they faced a difficult year.

In the northern province of Baghlan, the Taliban seized control of a district centre after days of heavy fighting. Faiz Mohammad Amiri, governor of Tala wa Barfak district, said the Taliban had taken control. Four members of the security forces had been killed and another four wounded.

The Taliban’s main spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, said light and heavy weapons had been captured.

Government forces have struggled to control the insurgency since a Nato-led force ended its combat mission in 2014.

According to US estimates, Afghan government forces now control less than 60 percent of the country although they hold all main provincial centres.</s>KABUL, Afghanistan — A pair of near-simultaneous Taliban suicide bombings struck the Afghan capital on Wednesday, targeting a sprawling police compound and offices of the country's intelligence agency and killing 16 people in all, officials said.

In the attack on the police compound, a suicide car bomber rammed his car into the gates of the complex, located in western Kabul. The explosion was followed by a gunbattle between police and several attackers who stormed into the compound, said Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

Thick black smoke rose above the police complex, and several rounds of small-arms fire and subsequent explosions were heard from inside, according the Mohammad Naser, a shopkeeper who has a store nearby. Dozens of windows were shattered on surrounding houses and shops, he added.

The compound includes Kabul's so-called Sixth Police Station and is located next to the country's military school, which might have been the original target, along with cadets attending classes there.

Hours later the gunbattle ended with all the attackers killed, said Sadiq Muradi of the Kabul police chief's office. Security forces were carrying out a clean-up operation following the attack, he added.

Wahid Mujro, the public health ministry spokesman, said 15 people were killed in the police compound and 43 were wounded.

The second attack in the Afghan capital took place in eastern Kabul, when a suicide bomber on foot detonated his explosives outside the offices of the intelligence service. One person was killed and another was wounded in that attack, Mujro said.

In a message to media, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for both attacks.

It was not immediately clear how many gunmen were involved in the police station attack.

"We were in the dining room, eating lunch when a loud explosion happened. I couldn't see anything for a while," said Manizha, a policewoman who like many women in Afghanistan uses only one name.

She said she managed to escape from the compound as the gunbattle continued inside.

President Ashraf Ghani issued a statement condemning the attacks, saying that "terrorists and their alien masters once again tried to create an atmosphere of terror and fear in Kabul."

Ghani linked the attacks to the recent death of a senior Taliban commander, known as Mullah Salaam, in northeastern Kunduz province and said the insurgents are trying to attack urban centers to boost morale among their followers.

Meanwhile, the Taliban gained control Wednesday of local government headquarters in a district in northern Baghlan province, after almost three days of intense battles with Afghan security forces, according to local officials.

Abdul Satar Barez, the provincial governor, said he could not confirm that the whole district of Tala Wa Barfak has fallen to the Taliban but said a number of checkpoints have fallen to the insurgents amid clashes Wednesday.

A provincial security official said the security forces left their checkpoints and withdrew from the entire district, which is now in Taliban hands. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, tweeted that their fighters have overrun the Tala Wa Barfak headquarters.

Associated Press writers Amir Shah and Karim Sharifi in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.</s>KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Near-simultaneous Taliban suicide bombings and an hours-long shootout with Afghan security forces left at least 16 people dead and over 100 wounded in Kabul on Wednesday — a stark reminder of the militants’ ability to stage large-scale and complex attacks in the country’s capital.

The brazen noon-time attacks also underscored the challenges the government continues to face as it grapples with the 15-year-long insurgency and struggles to improve security for ordinary Afghans.

In one of the twin attacks, a suicide car bomber rammed his vehicle into the gates of a sprawling police compound in western Kabul. The explosion was followed by a gunbattle between security forces and several gunmen who stormed into the complex, said Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

Thick black smoke rose above the grounds, and several rounds of small-arms fire and subsequent explosions were heard from inside, according the Mohammad Naser, a shopkeeper who has a store nearby. Dozens of windows were shattered on surrounding houses and shops, he added.

The compound includes Kabul’s so-called Sixth Police Station and is located next to the country’s military school, which might have been the original target, along with cadets attending classes there.

Hours later, the gunbattle ended with all the attackers killed, said Sadiq Muradi of the Kabul police chief’s office. Security forces were carrying out a clean-up operation following the attack, he added.

Wahid Mujro, the public health ministry spokesman, said 15 people were killed in the police compound.

The second attack took place in eastern Kabul where a suicide bomber on foot detonated his explosives outside the offices of the country’s intelligence service, killing one person. A total of 104 people were wounded in both attacks, Mujro said.

In a message to media, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for both attacks. It was not immediately clear how many gunmen were involved in the attack on the Kabul police complex.

“We were in the dining room, eating lunch when a loud explosion happened. I couldn’t see anything for a while,” said Manizha, a policewoman who like many women in Afghanistan uses only one name.

She said she managed to escape from the compound as the gunbattle continued inside.

President Ashraf Ghani issued a statement condemning the attacks, saying that “terrorists and their alien masters once again tried to create an atmosphere of terror and fear in Kabul.”

Ghani linked the attacks to the recent death of a senior Taliban commander, known as Mullah Salaam, in northeastern Kunduz province and said the insurgents are trying to attack urban centers to boost morale among their followers.

The U.N. Security Council condemned “the heinous and cowardly terrorist attacks” and underlined the need to bring the perpetrators to justice. Council members reiterated their “serious concern” at the threat posed by the Taliban, al-Qaida and Islamic State extremist group to the local population, security forces and the international presence in Afghanistan.

But, the council’s statement said, “no violent or terrorist acts can reverse the Afghan-led process along the path towards peace, democracy and stability in Afghanistan, which is supported by the people and the government of Afghanistan, and by the international community.”

Meanwhile, the Taliban gained control Wednesday of local government headquarters in a district in northern Baghlan province, after almost three days of intense battles with Afghan security forces, according to local officials.

Abdul Satar Barez, the provincial governor, said he could not confirm that the whole district of Tala Wa Barfak has fallen to the Taliban but said a number of checkpoints have fallen to the insurgents amid clashes Wednesday.

A provincial security official said the security forces left their checkpoints and withdrew from the entire district, which is now in Taliban hands. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, tweeted that their fighters have overrun the Tala Wa Barfak headquarters.

Afghanistan has been wracked by violence as the Taliban continue to press their offensive into the winter months, targeting mainly government forces and the Afghan military but with scores of civilians getting caught up in the deadly violence.

The government is also facing an Islamic State affiliate, which is seeking to expand its footprint in the country beyond the eastern Nangarhar province.

Since the withdrawal of NATO combat forces from Afghanistan at the end of 2014 that left a smaller, mainly training and support mission of U.S. and other Western troops, the Taliban have tried to take their war into urban centers as well.

In September 2015, insurgents overran and briefly held Kunduz, the capital of the strategically important Kunduz province, a breadbasket region that borders Tajikistan to the north and sits on a major crossroad in the country. It was the first time the militant group had taken a major city.

Kunduz came under threat again last April, when Afghan forces aided by U.S. troops and air power pushed the Taliban back into the surrounding districts.

In southern Helmand province, where most of Afghanistan’s opium comes from Taliban-controlled poppy fields, the insurgents have gained full control of five of the province’s 14 districts and effectively control eight others where just small pockets government-held territory remain.

The militants are also now closing in on Helmand’s capital of Lashkar Gah, where a wave of assaults and suicide attacks killed dozens in recent months.</s>Afghan Taliban militants said they attacked police, military and intelligence targets in Kabul on Wednesday and security officials confirmed attacks in at least two areas of the city.

A resounding explosion was heard across the city followed immediately by gunfire between security forces and an unknown number of attackers in the west of Kabul.

The fighting was concentrated near a district police headquarters not far from a military training school, according to one police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

A security official said one attacker was barricaded inside the police building.

A separate attack appeared to have targeted an office of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, the National Directorate for Security (NDS), on the eastern outskirts of Kabul. However a senior army official said that attack appeared to have been quickly suppressed.

“Two terrorists entered a building. One blew himself up and the second was shot by Afghan security forces,” said Abdul Nasir Ziaee, commander of 111th corps based in the east of the city.

The Taliban, who sometimes exaggerate the impact of their operations, said the attacks had caused heavy casualties.

An official from the ministry of public health said one person had been killed in the attack on the NDS office while at least 35 people had been wounded and transferred to hospital in the attack on the police office in western Kabul.

Last month, a suicide bomber killed at least 20 people outside the Supreme Court in Kabul. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for that attack.

The Taliban are seeking to expel foreign troops, defeat the US-backed government and reimpose Islamic law after their 2001 ouster.

The Wednesday attacks come shortly ahead of the period when the Taliban usually announce a spring offensive, and underline warnings from Afghan officials that they faced a difficult year.

Government forces have struggled to control the insurgency since a Nato-led force ended its combat mission in 2014.

According to US estimates, Afghan government forces now control less than 60 per cent of the country although they hold all main provincial centres.
At least 16 people were killed and 40 more wounded after two suicide bombers attacked Kabul. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks.