A Taliban suicide bomber and six gunmen attacked the Afghan parliament on Monday, wounding at least 19 people and sending a plume of black smoke across Kabul, as a second district in two days fell to the Islamist group in the north.
The attack on the symbolic centre of power, one of the most brazen in years, along with a series of Taliban gains elsewhere, raise questions about the NATO-trained Afghan security forces' ability to cope and how far the militants can advance.
Violence has spiralled in Afghanistan since the departure of most foreign forces at the end of last year. The insurgents are pushing to take territory more than 13 years after the U.S.-led military intervention that toppled the Taliban from power.
Spokesman for Kabul police, Ebadullah Karimi, said the attack started when a Taliban fighter driving a car loaded with explosives blew up outside parliament gates, raising questions about how the driver got through several security checkpoints.
Six gunmen who took up positions in a building near parliament, were killed by Security forces after a gun battle that lasted nearly two hours.
Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi said all lawmakers were safe. TV pictures showed the speaker sitting calmly and legislators leaving the building, engulfed in dust and smoke, without panicking.
Four women were among the 19 wounded, said Sayed Kabir Amiri, a health official who coordinates Kabul hospitals.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility, saying the attacked was launched there was an important gathering to introduce the country's defence minister.
The withdrawal of foreign forces and a reduction in U.S. air strikes have allowed Taliban fighters, who ruled Afghanistan with an iron fist from 1996 to 2001, to launch several major attacks in important provinces.
The second district to fall to the Taliban on Monday was in the northern province of Kunduz. Officials said it fell after urgently needed reinforcements failed to arrive.
The Taliban captured Dasht-e-Archi district a day after hundreds of militants fought their way to the centre of the adjacent district of Chardara.
Monday's heavy fighting was just three km (two miles) from the governor's compound.
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