Taliban attack Afghan parliament, seize second district in north

A Taliban suicide bomber and gunmen attacked the Afghan parliament on Monday, shattering windows, 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, Reuters reports.

Four women were among the 19 wounded, said Sayed Kabir Amiri, a health official who coordinates Kabul hospitals.

“A suicide bomber blew himself up just outside the parliament building and several fighters took positions in a building close to parliament,” said Ebadullah Karimi, spokesman for Kabul police.

Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi said all lawmakers were safe and that fighting was ongoing. TV pictures showed leglislators calmly leaving the building which was engulfed with dust and smoke.