Revy
18th January 2010, 09:34
KABUL, Afghanistan — Militants launched an audacious and sustained attack in central Kabul early on Monday, with loud explosions and gunfire echoing across the city. The Taliban (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/t/taliban/index.html?inline=nyt-org) said its fighters carried out the assault.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/01/18/world/asia/18afghan-inline1/articleInline.jpg (javascript:pop_me_up2('http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2010/01/18/world/asia/18afghan-inline1.html',%20'18afghan_inline1',%20'width=720, height=600,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=ye s')) Robert Reid/Associated Press
Smoke rising over Kabul on Monday
There were no immediate independent estimates of casualties, which some reports said appeared to be light. But the Taliban claimed to have killed 40 people.
Police and paramilitary officers at the scene said the onslaught began with an initial suicide bombing in the downtown area which includes the Justice Ministry, the Central Bank, the presidential palace and the Serena Hotel favored by Westerners. Hotel residents took cover in a basement as the fighting swirled above them, according to a BBC (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/british_broadcasting_corporation/index.html?inline=nyt-org) reporter at the hotel.
Militants have become increasingly bold in penetrating the capital as their campaign broadens in many parts of Afghanistan, prompting President Obama (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per) to promise 30,000 additional American troops to reinforce the international coalition.
Initial reports spoke of an explosion caused by a rocket attack, but later assessments by police indicated that the blast came from a suicide bomber.
About 9:30 in the morning, according an off-duty police officer, a group of men arrived in the vicinity of the Froshga market in central Kabul wearing shawls. They threw them off, revealing suicide vests and an array of weaponry, before splitting into two teams, the police officer said.
A suicide bomber detonated his explosives in front of the Central Bank. Others went into the bank, where several other explosions were heard, while the second team went into the Froshga market building, climbing to the roof and firing from there.
There was pandemonium as hundreds of government forces — mostly police but including some Afghan National Army soldiers — poured into the area. “Should I hold my position or abandon it?” a worried soldier could be heard saying into his walkie-talkie.
About an hour later a second, larger explosion was heard, apparently from the vicinity of the Education Ministry and Maliksaghar Square, less than a mile away.
In the deserted square, with gunshots still ringing across it, the smoking hulk of a vehicle could be seen with two legs, apparently those of the suicide bomber, sticking out of the wreckage.
Some reports said the vehicle had been able to evade detection because it was an ambulance.
Within two hours, the Froshga market building was a smoking hulk.
A NATO (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/north_atlantic_treaty_organization/index.html?inline=nyt-org) spokesman said that an explosion had been reported near the Central Bank in the city center and international troops were assisting in securing the area.
Kabul police, some with paramilitary equipment and machine guns, converged on the area along with Afghan National Army soldiers.
It was unclear if there were any hostages. Some police seemed overwhelmed.
One soldier was heard talking into his walkie-talkie. The voice on the other end said: “Should we hold our position or abandon it?”
“Hold it,” the soldier replied.
The Taliban said it had deployed 20 suicide bombers armed with both heavy and light weapons as well as explosive vests in their assault, according to a spokesman reached by telephone.
“They are fighting vigorously against Afghan forces and our some of our suicide bombers have blown themselves up, bringing heavy casualties to government officials,” said Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the insurgents in northern and eastern Afghanistan reached by telephone.
“The fighters and the suicide bombers are now in the Afghan National Bank , the Justice Ministry, and other official departments,” he said almost three hours after the fighting started. “Fighting is still going on but our men are still alive,” he said, claiming that 40 government officials had been killed. By noon, witnesses said, the fighting seemed to be over, save for scattered gunfire.
The attack seemed designed to undermine the already frayed authority of the Karzai government even as it seeks to move against the militants politically.
The presidential spokesman, Waheed Omar, said Sunday that the government will soon unveil a major new plan offering jobs, security, education and other social benefits to Taliban followers who defect.
The plan, in the final stages of preparation, will go beyond the government’s previous offers to the Taliban, Mr. Omer said at a news conference. “The mistakes we have committed before have been considered in developing this new plan,” he said. “We have not done enough.”
I bolded some rather interesting parts. given the brutality of the occupation I can imagine what the response from the US will be. when people's villages are being bombed, they bomb back. But the media is just going to spin this as America being the savior.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/01/18/world/asia/18afghan-inline1/articleInline.jpg (javascript:pop_me_up2('http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2010/01/18/world/asia/18afghan-inline1.html',%20'18afghan_inline1',%20'width=720, height=600,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=ye s')) Robert Reid/Associated Press
Smoke rising over Kabul on Monday
There were no immediate independent estimates of casualties, which some reports said appeared to be light. But the Taliban claimed to have killed 40 people.
Police and paramilitary officers at the scene said the onslaught began with an initial suicide bombing in the downtown area which includes the Justice Ministry, the Central Bank, the presidential palace and the Serena Hotel favored by Westerners. Hotel residents took cover in a basement as the fighting swirled above them, according to a BBC (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/british_broadcasting_corporation/index.html?inline=nyt-org) reporter at the hotel.
Militants have become increasingly bold in penetrating the capital as their campaign broadens in many parts of Afghanistan, prompting President Obama (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per) to promise 30,000 additional American troops to reinforce the international coalition.
Initial reports spoke of an explosion caused by a rocket attack, but later assessments by police indicated that the blast came from a suicide bomber.
About 9:30 in the morning, according an off-duty police officer, a group of men arrived in the vicinity of the Froshga market in central Kabul wearing shawls. They threw them off, revealing suicide vests and an array of weaponry, before splitting into two teams, the police officer said.
A suicide bomber detonated his explosives in front of the Central Bank. Others went into the bank, where several other explosions were heard, while the second team went into the Froshga market building, climbing to the roof and firing from there.
There was pandemonium as hundreds of government forces — mostly police but including some Afghan National Army soldiers — poured into the area. “Should I hold my position or abandon it?” a worried soldier could be heard saying into his walkie-talkie.
About an hour later a second, larger explosion was heard, apparently from the vicinity of the Education Ministry and Maliksaghar Square, less than a mile away.
In the deserted square, with gunshots still ringing across it, the smoking hulk of a vehicle could be seen with two legs, apparently those of the suicide bomber, sticking out of the wreckage.
Some reports said the vehicle had been able to evade detection because it was an ambulance.
Within two hours, the Froshga market building was a smoking hulk.
A NATO (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/north_atlantic_treaty_organization/index.html?inline=nyt-org) spokesman said that an explosion had been reported near the Central Bank in the city center and international troops were assisting in securing the area.
Kabul police, some with paramilitary equipment and machine guns, converged on the area along with Afghan National Army soldiers.
It was unclear if there were any hostages. Some police seemed overwhelmed.
One soldier was heard talking into his walkie-talkie. The voice on the other end said: “Should we hold our position or abandon it?”
“Hold it,” the soldier replied.
The Taliban said it had deployed 20 suicide bombers armed with both heavy and light weapons as well as explosive vests in their assault, according to a spokesman reached by telephone.
“They are fighting vigorously against Afghan forces and our some of our suicide bombers have blown themselves up, bringing heavy casualties to government officials,” said Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the insurgents in northern and eastern Afghanistan reached by telephone.
“The fighters and the suicide bombers are now in the Afghan National Bank , the Justice Ministry, and other official departments,” he said almost three hours after the fighting started. “Fighting is still going on but our men are still alive,” he said, claiming that 40 government officials had been killed. By noon, witnesses said, the fighting seemed to be over, save for scattered gunfire.
The attack seemed designed to undermine the already frayed authority of the Karzai government even as it seeks to move against the militants politically.
The presidential spokesman, Waheed Omar, said Sunday that the government will soon unveil a major new plan offering jobs, security, education and other social benefits to Taliban followers who defect.
The plan, in the final stages of preparation, will go beyond the government’s previous offers to the Taliban, Mr. Omer said at a news conference. “The mistakes we have committed before have been considered in developing this new plan,” he said. “We have not done enough.”
I bolded some rather interesting parts. given the brutality of the occupation I can imagine what the response from the US will be. when people's villages are being bombed, they bomb back. But the media is just going to spin this as America being the savior.