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Spain: Gunmen entered embassy in Kabul after car bomb attack

Afghan security personnel inspect the Spanish Embassy on Saturday in Kabul, Afghanistan. Explosions and gunfire rocked a diplomatic area of central Kabul overnight as security forces tried to flush out Taliban attackers who claimed responsibility for a deadly car bomb Friday. (Rahmat Gul / Associated Press)
Rahim Faiez

KABUL, Afghanistan – Attackers entered the Spanish Embassy in Kabul after a deadly car bombing in a diplomatic neighborhood of the Afghan capital, engaging in an hourlong shootout with security forces while staff hid in bunkers, the Spanish government said Saturday in an account of the attack a day earlier.

Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, said four Afghan police officers and two others, including a foreigner, were killed in the attack that was claimed by the Taliban. Authorities in Madrid said two Spanish police officers were killed. The discrepancy could not immediately be clarified.

According to a statement issued Saturday by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s office, a powerful car bomb exploded Friday evening near the embassy, “causing serious damage to the premises” and killing Deputy-Inspector Jorge Garcia Tudela and Isidro Gabino Sanmartin Hernandez, who were guarding the compound.

An hourlong shootout followed, the statement said. During the gunbattle, three attackers entered the embassy compound while staff hid in two bunkers. They were released unharmed “after an intervention by Afghan and United States special forces units that lasted several hours,” the statement said.

“All details of the attack are under investigation, although a statement by the attackers said that the embassy was not the intended target of their attack,” the Spanish government said.

The incident caused confusion in Spain, as Rajoy initially insisted to reporters Friday on live TV just ahead of a campaign election rally that the embassy had not come under attack.

There was no government confirmation until Saturday that the embassy grounds had been penetrated.

Seven civilians and two policemen were wounded, Sediqqi said, adding that 12 foreign citizens were rescued by Afghan forces.

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack in an email sent to media outlets.

The Kabul attack came two days after another massive Taliban attack on the main airport in the southern city of Kandahar, which lasted more than 24 hours and killed more than 50 people.