Militant blames Haqqanis for attacks: Afghan Govt.

KABUL: A militant arrested in the attacks on the Afghan capital and three other cities has confessed that the 18-hour assault was carried out by the Haqqani network, a lethal group of fighters with ties to the Taliban and Al Qaeda, a top Afghan security official said Monday.
Thirty- six insurgents were killed during the brazen, 18-hour attacks that also claimed the lives of eight policemen and three civilians and proved that militants can still penetrate Afghan security after 10 years of war, said Interior Minister Besmillah Mohammadi.
It was the most widespread attack in Afghan capital since an assault on the U.S. Embassy and NATO headquarters last September -- an assault also blamed on the Haqqani network, which is based in Pakistan and commands the loyalties of an estimated 10,000 fighters.
The violence showed the Taliban and their allies are far from beaten and underscored the security challenge facing government forces as U.S. and NATO forces draw down. The majority of international combat troops are scheduled to leave by the end of 2014.
"The terrorists tried to harm the process of transferring security to the Afghan forces, but they are not able to do it," Mohammadi told reporters in Kabul. "They want to create fear among the people."
Apart from Kabul, the eastern capitals of Paktia, Logar and Nangarhar provinces also came under attack Sunday as suicide bombers tried to storm a NATO base, an airport and police installations there.
"One terrorist who was arrested in Nangarhar province confessed, saying `It was the Haqqani network that launched these attacks,"' Mohammadi said.
Eight members of the Afghan police, army and intelligence service were killed and 40 others were wounded in the attacks. Three civilians were killed and 25 others were wounded, he said.
Militants also attacked a NATO site on the outskirts of Kabul, where a joint Greek-Turkish base came under heavy fire and forces responded with heavy-caliber machine guns, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said dozens of suicide attackers and gunmen were involved in attacks that had been planned for two months to show the insurgency's power after NATO officials called the Taliban weak and said there was no indication they were planning a spring offensive.
Mujahid told the AP on Monday that the attacks did not mark the start of the insurgents' spring offensive, which would begin shortly.
"It is a message for the spring offensive but it has not yet started," Mujahid said. "The offensive will start shortly and it will be announced with its name and the purpose of the operation."