{"id":53469,"date":"2018-05-30T22:06:44","date_gmt":"2018-05-30T22:06:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/05\/30\/militants-apparently-wore-us-military-uniforms-in-attack-on-afghanistan-ministry\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:10:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:10:56","slug":"militants-apparently-wore-us-military-uniforms-in-attack-on-afghanistan-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/05\/30\/militants-apparently-wore-us-military-uniforms-in-attack-on-afghanistan-ministry\/","title":{"rendered":"Militants wore US military uniforms in attack in Afghanistan\u2019s capital"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KABUL, Afghanistan \u2014 Islamic State militants, including two suicide bombers, dressed in what appeared to be U.S. military uniforms and riding in two armored vehicles launched a surprise attack on the Interior Ministry in Kabul on Wednesday but Afghan forces managed to repel the assault, leaving all the attackers dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a rare victory<\/a> for Afghan security forces, who have struggled to secure the capital in recent months amid relentless attacks by the Taliban and the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the ministry spokesman, Najib Danish, one policeman was killed and five were wounded in the assault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attack began around noon when a group of 10 militants tried to storm the ministry compound in Kabul, Danish said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two of the attackers detonated their explosives, allowing eight others to pass through an outer gate at the ministry where they traded fire with security forces before they were eventually killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danish said the \u201cattackers were dressed in military uniforms\u201d \u2014 apparently seeking to confuse Afghan security forces guarding the ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Security personnel arrive at the site of an attack in the Afghan Interior Ministry in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 30, 2018. The area around the Interior Ministry has been rocked by several loud explosions and gunfire, in what appears to be the latest in a series of attacks in Kabul. (Rahmat Gul\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hours after the attack, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the assault in a brief statement carried by its Aamaq news agency. The statement called it an \u201cimmersion attack\u201d on the ministry in Kabul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An eyewitness at the scene, Mohammad Safi, said an explosion first went off and then bullets started flying near where he was standing with a group of people on the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe ran to escape to the other side of the road,\u201d said Safi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Danish, Safi also said the attackers wore military uniforms but could not provide more details. Video footage from the scene showed that the assailants wore what appeared to be imitations of U.S. military uniforms. The Stars and Stripes<\/a> newspaper reported that the attackers were dressed as U.S. soldiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t immediately clear how the militants managed to penetrate so close to such a high-security location. Last year, the Interior Ministry moved into a new building, surrounded by numerous security barriers and close to the Kabul international airport and several military compounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later Wednesday, the American commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan cast doubt the attack was the work of ISIS, saying instead there are indications the Taliban-allied Haqqani network was behind it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gen. John Nicholson, speaking to reporters at the Pentagon from his Kabul office, said U.S. forces \u201cbelieve it was a Taliban-Haqqani attack, but we\u2019re still developing that information.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tactics used in the attack \u201ctrack with\u201d the tactics that the Haqqani faction has used in the past, he said and added: \u201cWe at this time do not believe it was an ISIS attack.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\t