Taliban militants target Afghan Parliament with rockets

Taliban militants today fired four rockets at the Afghan Parliament with one impacting the new building that was built with India’s assistance, media reports said. The incident took place when senior security officials were in parliament to brief lawmakers on the current situation in the country, Khaama Press reported.

Officials from the Interior and Defence ministries and the National Directorate of Security were present at the time. Four rockets were fired on the Parliament building. One of the rockets impacted the building, two others landed in surrounding areas while one of them landed in an army base nearby, eyewitnesses were quoted as saying.

No casualties were reported and the parliament session continued as usual. A lawmaker said the MPs and other people in the building were safe. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack and said the rockets inflicted heavy casualties.

Today’s attack came just over three months after the new Parliament building, built with India’s assistance, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The swanky new building was built by India at a cost of USD 90 million.

The Parliament building project was started by India in 2007 as a mark of friendship and cooperation to help rebuild Afghanistan. Today’s incident also comes days after a heavy blast rocked Kabul after a bike packed with explosives was detonated.