Taliban suicide attackers wearing military uniforms stormed a court complex in Afghanistan's relatively tranquil north today, killing at least three people and wounding scores of others in an assault highlighting the country's fragile security situation.
The ongoing assault in Mazar-i-Sharif city comes just before the start of the Taliban's traditional spring offensive, set to be the first fighting season when Afghan security forces battle insurgents without full NATO support.
Explosions rang out as assailants wearing suicide vests lobbed grenades and exchanged gunfire with Afghan security forces, setting ablaze one of the buildings in the compound, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.
"In the morning a group of three to five armed attackers in military uniforms and equipped with suicide vests stormed the Appeals Court complex," the Afghan interior ministry said in a statement hours after the siege began.
"Police reinforcements reached the site of the attack and immediately launched operations against the insurgents. The clean up operations are underway."
At least three policemen were killed, the acting governor of the affected Balkh province, Atta Mohammad Noor, said in a statement.
Thirty-one wounded people, some in critical condition, were brought to the local public hospital.
"Police, prosecutors, court staff, women and children were among those wounded," Noor Mohammad Faiz, a senior doctor at the hospital, told AFP.
Militant attacks are relatively rare in Mazar-i-Sharif, a city well-known as a melting pot of diverse cultures and religious influences where liberal attitudes coexist with conservative traditions.
Nearly five hours after the attack started, reports of blood shortages in hospitals emerged, with urgent appeals for donors circulating on social media.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for Thursday's assault, which underscores Afghanistan's precarious security situation as US-led foreign troops pull back from the frontlines after a 13-year war against the Taliban.
"Our mujahideen have carried out a martyrdom attack... In Mazar-i-Sharif city," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP by telephone.
"Heavy fighting is going on between our mujahideen and Afghan forces in the area.
