The 2013 Afghan presidential palace attack occurred on 25 June 2013, in a highly secure zone of

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

, the capital city of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. The attack, claimed to be carried out by the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

, occurred at the eastern gate of the presidential palace around 6:30 a.m.

AFT "Aft", in nautical terminology, is an adjective or adverb meaning towards the stern (rear) of the ship, aircraft or spacecraft, when the frame of reference is within the ship, headed at the fore. For example, "Able Seaman Smith; lie aft!" or "Wh ...

, where a group of reporters were gathering for security checks ahead of a presidential news conference. Between seven and eight explosions, alleged to be suicide bombers by the Taliban, occurred outside the palace. The explosions were later followed with an intense exchange of gunfire between the three or four Taliban fighters, and Afghan security officials, which lasted 90 minutes. Obtaining fake identification, badges and vehicle passes, five of the eight Taliban members were able to clear high-level security clearances, driving two Land Cruisers similar to those used by international soldiers to penetrate the heavily fortified security zone in

. All insurgents were killed in the ensuing battle with security forces. The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

's Afghanistan station located nearby the presidential palace was also struck by two

rocket-propelled grenades A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is a shoulder-fired missile weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are ...

during the attack. Targeting the CIA's office in the Ariana Hotel, the Taliban attacked inside one of the most heavily restricted areas of Afghanistan, in downtown Kabul where the

U.S. Embassy The United States has the second most diplomatic missions of any country in the world after Mainland China, including 166 of the 193 member countries of the United Nations, as well as observer state Vatican City and non-member countries Kosovo a ...

and the headquarters of the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

-led

International Security Assistance Force ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , comman ...

are located. The headquarters of the

Afghan Ministry of Defense ps, د ملي دفاع وزارت , logo = MOD Afghanistan emblem.png , logo_width = 200px , logo_caption = Emblem of the Ministry of Defense of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan , picture = , picture_width = ...

was also targeted in the Taliban attack. With no immediate reports of civilian casualties, it remains unclear whether several Afghan schoolchildren who were caught in the crossfire between the Taliban and security forces were harmed. Afghan President

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repub ...

, who was inside the palace at the time, was not injured. The attack resulted in the deaths of three palace security guards, and all eight of the Taliban fighters.

References

2013 murders in Afghanistan Mass murder in 2013 Mass shootings in Afghanistan Improvised explosive device bombings in Afghanistan Terrorist incidents in Afghanistan in 2013 June 2013 events in Afghanistan 2013 in Kabul Attacks on buildings and structures in Afghanistan Terrorist incidents in Kabul Building bombings in Afghanistan Attacks in Afghanistan in 2013 {{Afghanistan-hist-stub