The terrorist show of force kills nine, wounds 23. The Taliban wanted to show their capability of breaching Kabul’s ‘Ring of Steel’ at a time when security is being transferred from Western to local forces.

Kabul (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Afghan forces have killed the last Taliban who yesterday attacked the US embassy, NATO headquarters and police buildings in Kabul. Fighting, which lasted 19 hours, began when five suicide attackers took over a building under construction near the US diplomatic mission and started to shoot with machine guns, and perhaps a small mortar. Other Taliban attacked police headquarters and a prison, whilst one suicide attacker was killed as he tried to make his way into the airport. At least nine people were killed and 23 wounded during the operation.

This is the largest action of its kind by the Taliban in the capital at a time when foreign troops prepare to hand over the country’s security to Afghan forces by 2014. “There was almost certainly either a break-down in security among the Afghans with responsibility for Kabul or an intelligence failure,” a US expert said.

The Taliban’s capability to penetrate Kabul's vaunted “Ring of Steel” at a time when the US Senate is discussing cuts in funding to Afghan forces could have repercussions on NATO’s disengagement from Afghanistan.

Nonetheless, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that plans would go ahead. "By carrying out such attacks terrorists cannot stop the transition of security from international to Afghan forces," he said in a statement.

Earlier this year, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) handed over responsibility for security in seven areas of Afghanistan, including two provinces.

• afghanistan
• kabul
• attack
• us
• embassy
• taliban
• handover
• withdrawal