KABUL — President Hamid Karzai acknowledged Saturday that the U.S. and Afghan governments have held talks with Taliban emissaries in a bid to end the nation’s nearly 10-year war, even as suicide attackers launched a bold assault in the heart of the county’s capital, killing nine people.
The attack, which occurred just blocks from Karzai’s office, shows the parties have a long way to go to reach a political settlement as the Obama administration weighs a major withdrawal of its forces. The White House neither directly confirmed nor denied Karzai’s statement.
Three men wearing camouflage fatigues that are worn by Afghan soldiers stormed a police station near the presidential palace, with one of them detonating an explosives vest outside the gates as two others rushed inside and began firing, an Interior Ministry statement said.
A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred shortly after Karzai announced during a speech to youths at the presidential palace that members of his peace council and the U.S. have begun preliminary peace negotiations with the Taliban. The Associated Press
