Afghan forces thwart insurgent attack on Kabul

“They planned mass attacks in different parts of Kabul disguised in burqas,” the NDS said in a statement.

Police said two insurgents escaped during a gun battle that raged for five hours around the isolated compound,where the insurgents had been amassing weapons in a newly-built brick house.

The militants had three vehicles loaded with explosives and suicide-bomb vests,as well as large stores of rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons,and planned to occupy a high-rise building to attack the city’s business heart.

The Taliban issued a statement denying that Thursday’s operation had targeted their fighters,although the insurgents often play down their defeats and inflate successes.

The NDS said that target maps and telephone numbers recovered from the compound had numbers for the Haqqani network based outside Afghanistan.

Haqqani network militants,allied with the Taliban and largely based in northwest Pakistan’s lawless border lands,have been blamed by NATO-led forces in Afghanistan for several high-profile attacks in recent months.

Afghan finance minister faces corruption probe

Afghanistan’s top anti-corruption chief said on Thursday the finance minister’s business affairs will be investigated after accusations aired on Afghan television that he stashed away more than $1 million in overseas banks. Hazarat Omar Zakhilwal,over the past five years,had transferred the money to accounts in Canada,according Afghanistan’s TV channel,Tolo TV.