The attack on the police headquarters in the provincial capital of Gardez took place in the early morning. The Taliban suicide team used tactics that have been perfected by multiple jihadist groups on numerous battlefields over the past decade and a half.
First, a suicide bomber drove a vehicle packed with explosives and detonated his payload at the main gate, opening a breach for the assault team to enter the compound. Then, a heavily armed assault team fanned out to shoot anyone they could before they occupied a building inside the compound. Afghan forces battled the Taliban team throughout the day before killing the last remaining attacker.
In a statement released on Voice of Jihad, the Taliban claimed the strike under the aegis of Operation Mansouri, its most recent spring offensive.
The suicide assault, or coordinated attack using one or more suicide bombers and an assault team, is a tactic frequently used by the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, al Qaeda and its branches. It is also used by allied groups such as the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Shabaab, and by the rival Islamic State. Suicide assaults are commonly executed by jihadist groups in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and Nigeria.
The Taliban used this tactic to penetrate security at the Afghan National Army’s 209th Shaheen Corps Headquarters in Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh province in April. A ten man strong team dressed in Afghan military uniforms killed more than 140 Afghan soldiers using both gun fire and bomb blasts.
Read more: Long War Journal
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