TALIBAN BOMBERS STRIKE SHOPPING MALL IN AFGHANISTAN

By Roy Gutman and Hashim Shukoor, McClatchy Newspapers Roy Gutman And Hashim Shukoor, Mcclatchy Newspapers Mon Jan 18, 11:05 am ET

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100118/wl_mcclatchy/3403161_1

GARDEZ, Afghanistan — Seven Taliban attackers, including a suicide bomber driving an ambulance, hit the center of Kabul on Monday morning, killing five people, wounding at least 71 and demonstrating their ability to strike at the hub of the U.S.-backed Afghan government.

Gen. Abdul Ghafar Sayed Zada , the head of the criminal investigative division of Kabul's police department, said that security forces had shot five of the attackers, who were armed with AK-47 rifles, rocket launchers and grenades, not far from President Hamid Karzai's palace, the Ministry of Justice and the Central Bank in Afghanistan's capital.

The attackers also struck a shopping mall near the presidential palace, setting the building on fire and causing civilian and security force casualties. Three security personnel were killed as they battled the attackers in or near the six-story Froshgha shopping mall, also known as the Grand Afghan Shopping Center . Two civilians also were killed, and the Health Ministry said that at least 71 people had been wounded in the attacks, including three dozen security officials.

In a scene shown on live television, all the mall's windows were blown out and smoke was pouring forth. Afghan army snipers took up positions on the roof of a nearby building.