Taliban attacks in Kabul

There are so many places that suicide bombers can strike in Afghanistan. Kabul is no exception, as the following report by Juan Cole indicates. While the US-led occupation (mostly US) gears up to intensify counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism efforts in Taliban-controlled parts of the country, especially in the southern and eastern regions, the Taliban bent on expanding their fundamentalist regime are still able to launch strikes even in the capitol city.

Counter-insurgency has as one of its elements the idea that the US-led occupation can win support of the Afghan people village-by-village with a combination of force, reconstruction projects, the pursuit of good relations with village elders, and cash. This is a daunting challenge, given there are 34,000 Afghan villages.

As reported in other articles on this blog, the occupation forces are light on knowledge of Afghan culture and social structures and limited in the time they are able to spend developing trustworthy relations. In the meantime, the occupation, directly or through armed drones, is still killing civilians and destroying the lands and homes of Afghans. And, very importantly, the legitimacy of the occupation is tainted by its close relations with warlords outside of Taliban-influenced or -dominated areas. These are warlords who are corrupt, connected to the drug trade, who control their own militias, and who have little interest in the well-being of their own people, especially girls and women. As Malalai Joya points out, the majority of Afghan people are caught up in a conflict in which there are no good choices, except the latent democratic spirit and resilience of many ordinary Afghans.

Out of the desperation of extreme poverty or fear, Afghans are frequently coming under the rule of the Taliban as they look for some semblance of order and wherewithal to surviv. In the meantime, the areas from which the Taliban can foster violence and its tyrannical governance is unabated and, according to reports on this blog, slowly grows. Suicide bombings are one reflection of grisly state of affairs.

Bob

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Juan Cole, Informed Comment

Monday, January 18, 2010

Kabul gets the Baghdad Treatment from Taliban Bombers

The Taliban mounted their boldest and most ambitious assault on the capital of Kabul in recent years on Monday, with a series of well-coordinated bombings in the vicinity of the presidential palace and a platoon-sized expeditionary force wreaking havoc. The Afghan Voice Agency reports in Dari Persian that numerous bombs were set off near the presidential palace, shaking Kabul. The first was detonated at 9:45 am local time at the five-star Hotel Kabul Serena, 500 meters (yards) from the presidential palace, where many diplomats and journalists stay. The Serena was still on fire Monday night. As ambulances raced to the site to pick up the wounded, the attackers set off a second bomb at the Malik Asghar intersection in the capital. This blast was close to the central government ministries of foreign affairs, the economy, education, and Kabul municipality.

This tweet from Kabul says that there were lots of bombs going off.

Other news sources speak of machine gun fire echoing through Kabul all day, as streets were deserted.At the same time the bombs were being set off, a platoon of armed insurgents holding a five-story downtown Kabul City Center shopping mall began firing at nearby government buildings and banks. KabuL City Center Mall, courtesy Afghanistan Online and Maria Amiri.

The gunmen then engaged with Afghan National Army troops. Afghan government and NATO helicopters arrived to give air support against the attackers. Eyewitnesses report that the attackers killed and wounded dozens of people.Then the shopping center caught or was set on fire, and the fire brigrades raced toward it and toward the Hotel Serena. A second shopping center, Gulbahar, was also bombed or set ablaze, according to AFP.

The News (Pakistan) reports that by mid-afternoon Afghanistan officials were saying that the situation was under control. At least ten persons were left dead, including four suicide bombers. AFP reported 13 injured. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that 20 guerrillas, some armed with suicide belts, had come into the city to target the presidential palace and government edifices.

The terrorist tactic here, of targeting nice hotels, shopping districts and government buildings, seems to me to be modeled on what Sunni extremists did twice in 2009 (August and November) to Baghdad, though this Kabul operation was not nearly as sophisticated or destructive. The choice to use a guerrilla platoon, some with vest bombs, limited its scope, as compared to what could have been achieved with car bombs (but perhaps NATO is better at searching trunks than are the Baghdad authorities.)

The attack seems likely to have aimed at making Karzai look weak and not in control on the eve of his attendance at the upcoming London international conference on Afghanistan. It may also have been a reply to Karzai's appointment of about half the ministers on the way to forming a new government.