Six attackers shot dead after detonating car bomb in assault on Kabul spy compound close to foreign embassies

By Emma Graham-Harrison in Kabul, guardian.co.uk, 16 Jan 2013  

A six-strong suicide squad has attacked a heavily-fortified spy compound at the heart of the Afghan capital, killing at least one commando and wounding dozens of civilians in the first major Taliban attack on Kabul this year.

An attacker detonated a huge car bomb at the gate of the compound, then five men wearing suicide vests and armed with assault rifles and grenades jumped out of a nearby minivan and tried to race inside. All were shot dead before they detonated their explosives. [....]

In a worrying sign of evolving insurgent tactics, the explosives were gel-based, a kind not seen before in Kabul, said Shafiqullah Tahiri, spokesman for the National Directorate of Security, the Afghan intelligence agency.

The attack, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility, came just a few weeks after a suicide attacker with explosives hidden in his underwear nearly killed the country's spy chief, NDS head Assadullah Khalid. He is now recovering from severe internal injuries in the US, and it may be months before he can return to work, official sources say.

The spy compound attacked on Wednesday lies [....]