http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...J_WSJ_US_World
Kabul Rocked by Explosions
INDIA NEWS
JANUARY 18, 2010, 2:54 A.M. ET
By YAROSLAV TROFIMOV AND ALAN CULLISON
KABUL -- A series of explosions rocked the Afghan capital Monday morning with a large bomb blast followed by rocket attacks on the area of the presidential palace and the luxury Serena hotel.
The first bombing, near the presidential palace in a heavily protected part of the city, was heard throughout central Kabul just before 10 a.m. local time.
The ministry of finance building, near the Serena, was on fire, with thick plumes of smoke rising above Kabul. The exchanges of fire continued by midmorning, and an injured member of the security personnel defending the Serena was brought into the basement. An hour and a half after the first blasts, another large explosion was heard near Afghanistan's education ministry, with the Gul Bahar shopping center nearby erupting in flames, according to witnesses. The attacks occurred as members of President Hamid Karzai's government, approved by parliament earlier this month, were due to take the oath.
According to a Taliban spokesman, Monday's attacks were carried out by a group of 20 militants. The attacks, according to security personnel on the scene, involved two car bombs and at least one suicide bomber.
There was no immediate information on casualties. Taliban-led Afghan militants have repeatedly attacked central Kabul in recent months with rockets and suicide bombs, aiming to destablize President Hamid Karzai's administration.
Monday's coordinated attack appeared to be among the most serious so far.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/wo.../19afghan.html
Militants Launch Attack in Central Kabul
By DEXTER FILKINS and ALISSA J. RUBIN
Published: January 18, 2010
KABUL, Afghanistan — Militants launched an audacious and sustained attack in central Kabul early on Monday, with loud explosions and gunfire echoing across the city....
Police and paramilitary officers at the scene said the onslaught began with an initial suicide bombing in the downtown area which includes the Justice Ministry, the Central Bank, the presidential palace and the Serena Hotel favored by Westerners. Hotel residents took cover in a basement as the fighting swirled above them, according to a BBC reporter at the hotel....
About 9:30 in the morning, according an off-duty police officer, a group of men arrived in the vicinity of the Froshga market in central Kabul wearing shawls. They threw them off, revealing suicide vests and an array of weaponry, before splitting into two teams, the police officer said.
A suicide bomber detonated his explosives in front of the Central Bank. Others went into the bank, where several other explosions were heard, while the second team went into the Froshga market building, climbing to the roof and firing from there....