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Gunmen in bloody Kabul siege on eve of Afghan election
Wed Aug 19, 2009 3:18am EDT
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By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL (Reuters) - Gunmen stormed a bank building in the Afghan capital and battled police for hours on Wednesday on the eve of a cliffhanger election which the Taliban has vowed to disrupt.
The brazen early morning raid was the third major attack in Kabul in five days, shattering the calm in a capital which had been secure for months.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters the raid was carried out by five gunmen, some wearing suicide bomb vests. Police sources said three fighters and three policemen were killed during the four-hour siege, which now appeared to be over.
Afghan security forces took reporters into a nearby compound and showed them the bullet-riddled bodies of three fighters killed in the clash.
In a statement on a Taliban website, (www.alemara.org) Islamic group said 20 suicide bombers had infiltrated the capital. Another statement said the militants were closing roads across the country to disrupt the poll, and warned voters to stay away.
"From today onwards until the end of tomorrow, all main and secondary roads will be blocked for traffic and the Mujahideen will bear no responsibility for whoever gets hurt," it said.
Explosions and gunfire could be heard from the scene of the early morning clash, just south of the presidential palace compound in the center of the capital.
The Afghan government has ordered foreign and domestic media to impose a blackout on coverage of violence during Thursday's polls, saying it did not want Afghans to be frightened away.
Police beat journalists and bystanders with rifle butts to keep them away from the scene of Wednesday's raid.
Although Afghan police said the raid could have been an ordinary bank robbery, it follows a pattern the Taliban have employed in towns throughout the south recently -- sending fighters with bomb vests to seize buildings.
It also came a day after a suicide car bomber killed eight people in the capital, the second such strike in four days. Such attacks had been common in the south, but had not taken place in comparatively-secure Kabul for months.
Polls show president Hamid Karzai leading ahead of the election, but likely to fall just short of the outright majority needed to avoid an October run-off against his main challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.
Western diplomats say the outcome of the first round -- once seen as Karzai's to lose -- is now too close to call.
ALLIANCE WITH MILITIA CHIEFS
If fear of violence causes poor turnout, it could jeopardize the legitimacy of the election altogether. Violence is likely to have its greatest impact on turnout in the south, which is also the heartland of Karzai's support, making a run-off more likely. Continued...
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