KABUL -- Explosions and gunfire echoed through Kabul after near-simultaneous Taliban assaults on two security compounds Wednesday (March 1), as the insurgents intensify attacks even before the start of their annual spring offensive, AFP reported.
At least 16 people were killed and 38 wounded in the carnage.
A suicide car bomber struck an Afghan police precinct in western Kabul and a gun battle ensued, the Interior Ministry said.
Five minutes later a suicide bomber blew himself up at the gates of an Afghan intelligence agency branch in eastern Kabul as another attacker was gunned down while trying to enter the compound, the ministry added.
After the car bomber hit the police station, "another attacker who entered the building has taken position inside. Security forces are still engaged in fighting," a ministry official told AFP.
The Taliban claimed both assaults.
"More casualties are expected as the ambulances are on their way," Health Ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh told AFP.
