Taliban Attack U.S. Embassy in Kabul

Posted on Sep 13, 2011

AP / Ahmad Nazar

Dust and smoke rise from the U.S. Embassy compound in Kabul after Tuesday’s attack.

The Obama administration vowed to relentlessly pursue Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgents who, using suicide bombers, assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, attacked the U.S. Embassy in Kabul on Tuesday.

Attackers also targeted NATO headquarters and suicide bombers struck police buildings. No Americans or embassy personnel were injured, CIA Director David Petraeus told reporters, but four Afghan civilians were injured when an RPG hit the main embassy building. —BF

The Associated Press:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called it a “cowardly attack.”

“We will take all necessary steps, not only to ensure the safety of our people, but to secure the area and to ensure that those who perpetrated this attack are dealt with,” Clinton told reporters.

The coordinated assaults come two days after the U.S. marked the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and carried an unsettling message to Western leaders about the Taliban’s resilience. It was the third major attack in Kabul since late June, casting doubts on U.S. plans to stem violence in the country and withdraw all troops by 2015.

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