The Security Situation in Kabul

from The support network for Afghan Refugees, Norway Oslo, June 2013 Ed: Kari Sverdrup

to UNHCR: The Security Situation in Kabul

KABUL, 31 May 2010 (IRIN) - As hundreds of delegates from across Afghanistan arrive in Kabul for a three-day meeting to discuss the prospects for peace, experts are warning of major flaws and risks in the government’s draft peace plan.

Photo: Fardin Waezi/UNAMA

Bomb blast in Kabul - not so secure http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=89318

The Security Situation in Kabul

The documentation in this paper is showing that all of UNHCR’s criteria for an aerial to be evaluated as insecure are present in Kabul, and that they have been so for years. The authorities are too busy trying - and failing - to protect themselves, to be able to secure the general populations’ safety. For some citizens, the government might be considered a threat. Complementary Forms of Protection for Asylum Seekers is therefore to be found outside Afghanistan. All articles quoted, are to be found in this paper, in chronological order.

Afghanistan Security Update Relating to Complementary Forms of Protection

In the context of Afghanistan, UNHCR advocates for complementary forms of protection being considered for persons originating from areas where any or several of the following features have been reported or observed within the past months:

• Intensified counter insurgency activities, including aerial bombings, by ISAF/NATO which have escalated into open warfare in the south, south east, eastern, and partly in western and central provinces and which affect safe movement to and from these provinces;

• Possible military operation in places where the AGE have established their presence;

• Indiscriminate attacks by anti-government elements, inter alia through the consistent use of indiscriminate types of warfare (IED on the roads, missile attacks, bombs and suicide bomb attacks) including attacks on “soft targets” such as schools, teachers, and religious figures;

• Systematic acts of intimidation, involving arbitrary killings, abductions and other threats to life, security and liberty, by anti-government elements and by regional warlords, militia commanders and criminal groups, including on the highways;

• Illegal land occupation and confiscation with limited possibilities for redress;

• Religious and tribal conflicts, conflicts over the use of pasture land and inadequate responses by the central government to address violence and protect civilians.

Furthermore, UNHCR considers that Afghans should not be reasonably expected to travel through unsafe areas to reach their final destination.

Any or several of the above mentioned threats have been observed or reported in the past months in the below mentioned parts of Afghanistan and thus assessed as being insecure.

Content

1 Intensified counter insurgency activities 4 2 Possible military operation in places where the AGE have established their presence 16 3 Indiscriminate attacks by anti-government elements 20 4 Systematic acts of intimidation 35 5 Illegal land occupation and confiscation with limited possibilities for redress; 38 6 Religious and tribal conflicts, conflicts over the use of pasture land and inadequate responses by the central government to address violence and protect civilians. 38 Christians in Kabul 42 7 UNHCR considers that Afghans should not be reasonably expected to travel through unsafe areas to reach their final destination. 45 8 Final questions 48

Attachments UNHCR: Respons to your request 52 Articles concerning the Security Situation in Kabul 2009 60 Articles concerning the Security Situation in Kabul 2010 69 Articles concerning the Security Situation in Kabul 2011 84 Articles concerning the Security situation in Kabul 2012 107 Articles concerning the Security situation in Kabul 2013 129 Articles concerning the situation for Hazara in Kabul 151 Articles concerning the situation for Christians in Kabul 162 About the humanitarian situation for refugees in Kabul 170

1) Intensified counter insurgency activities Taliban attacked the presidential palace 25th of June 2013. When they can reach so far into the security zone, the town is not safe anywhere. Scoolchildren came in the firezone. It is reported that they were not seriously injured. This means that some of them got hurt.

Afghan Taliban attack in Kabul throws peace talks into further doubt

If there will be peace talks, it is an open question what kind of peace they might lead to, if any.

Rejected asylum seekers from Europe are arriving at Kabul airport. This airport is often under attack, last time so far was 10th of June 2013. According to BBC News, Afghan forces dealt with the situation with no help from international forces, except for that an US. US Blackhawk helicopters circled above. But, how could the insurgents manage to get their heavy weapons and a vehicle loaded with explosives up to the airport's perimeter despite all the security in place? Can it be considered safe for civilians to land here?

Afghanistan: Gun and rocket attack near Kabul airport

David Loyn at the scene: "This is an Afghan response to an Afghan situation" Continue reading the main story

Taliban Conflict Afghan security forces have tackled heavily-armed militants who seized a building near the main airport in the capital Kabul.

Bilal SarwaryBBC News, Kabul

(…) Police say the attack on Kabul International Airport was well co-ordinated - as was the response by Afghan security forces. Soon after the insurgents opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns, Afghan security personnel shut down the airport to all incoming and outgoing flights. Elite police reacted swiftly, engaging the militants in a battle that lasted nearly three hours and left all seven attackers dead. The sound of exploding grenades and machine guns could be heard several kilometres away. But the attack left several unanswered questions: For example, how did the insurgents manage to get their heavy weapons and a vehicle loaded with explosives up to the airport's perimeter despite all the security in place? Some experts said the attackers wanted to convey the message that they can strike at will in Kabul. The authorities may be praised for their response - but the attack highlights another clear failure of intelligence. All flights were cancelled in and out of Kabul international airport, which is home to a large Nato-led military base. Nearby roads were closed. Our correspondent said US Blackhawk helicopters circled above but on the ground the fighting was all carried out by Afghan police and army units, who have become far better at combating the insurgency. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22837221#story_continues_2

According to a Norwegian newspaper, Dagsavisen 11th of June 2013, Norwegian forces did assist the Afghan forces in striking back this attack.

Victorious: Afghan forces did defeat with support from Norwegian colleges, an attack at the airport in Kabul yesterday.

Norwegian soldiers contributed in striking back attack Afghanistan: Norwegian soldiers assisted their Afghan colleges in striking back an attack against the airport in the capital Kabul yesterday.

So except from US Blackhawk helicopters and Norwegian Special Forces, the Afghan police and army units did tackle the heavily-armed militants by themselves.

The attackers were wearing foreign and Afghan uniforms. Two civilians were wounded.

The incident happened on the same day when a group of seven Taliban insurgents launched an attack at the Kabul International Airport. All seven insurgents were killed in the assault, local officials said. Although, no civilians were killed in the attack, two were left wounded. The Police Chief of Kabul city Gen. Ayub Salangi said that the attack took place at about 4 am after seven Taliban insurgents had taken shelter inside an under construction building in the area and started firing at the security forces. 5

"One of the insurgents first blew himself inside a vehicle loaded with explosives in the area and the second inside the under construction building," Gen. Ayub Salangi said. "There were no Afghan security force causalities in the area," he added. "Five other insurgents who were wearing the uniform of foreign troops and Afghan Police were killed by the Afghan security forces after five hours," officials said. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Off late, the Taliban insurgents have become active and are targeting the Afghan and Nato troops. To watch the footage, click here: Nightly News Bulletin TOLOnews Poll http://tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/10821-supreme-court-blast-kills-17-and-injures-40-officials

The Security Directorate has been attached. When it can’t protect itself, who shall it protect the civilians? 30 persons were wounded. This is filed under counterinsurgency, since the police killed 5 of the attackers.

Soldier killed when insurgents hit Afghan security agency office in Kabul By Masoud Popalzai, CNN

January 17, 2013 -- Updated 0212 GMT (1012 HKT)

A truck driver peers through the broken windshield of his vehicle at the site of a the suicide attack on Wednesday.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

 NEW: Slain soldier was from security directorate; 30 other people reported wounded  Police say they killed five insurgents and a sixth died in a bombing  One car bomb exploded and another was neutralized, police say  Taliban claim responsibility, say government officials and foreigners were targeted Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The Taliban claimed responsibility Wednesday for a midday suicide attack near an office of Afghanistan's national security agency in central Kabul that killed a soldier and wounded 30 other people. The insurgents targeted a division of the National Directorate of Security, which is near the Afghan Interior Ministry, Kabul Police Chief Mohammad Ayoub Salangi said. Read more: Suicide bombers kill at least 5 at meeting of tribal elders in Afghanistan One suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden car, but five other attackers were killed by Afghan security forces. A second car bomb was neutralized, Salangi said. One soldier from the security directorate was killed. http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/16/world/asia/afghanistan-violenc

This battle January 21, 2013 started with an attack at the Traffic police. Afghan security police fought back, so this is also an example of intensified counter insurgency activities.

Insurgents Attack Police Unit in Kabul S. Sabawoon/European Pressphoto Agency

Afghan officials secured the area around the scene of a suicide bomb attack that targeted Kabul traffic officers. By AZAM AHMED and HABIB ZAHORI Published: January 21, 2013 KABUL, Afghanistan — In the second brazen attack on the capital in less than a week, five Taliban suicide bombers stormed the headquarters of the traffic police early on Monday, 6

setting off a fierce nine-hour gun battle that raged into the afternoon and claimed the lives of at least three traffic officers. (…) The attack began around 5 a.m., when insurgents shot and killed officers at the checkpoint in front of the headquarters, which is on the same road as the Parliament building. After the firefight began, insurgents wearing suicide vests remotely detonated a huge car bomb and rushed into the compound. Throughout the day, rocket explosions and gunfire erupted in intermittent bursts, as an array of Afghan security forces tried to dislodge the insurgents. The battle ended shortly after 2 p.m. with all of the insurgents dead. Only two of the bombers detonated their vests, officials said at the scene. The other three fighters were gunned down by the security forces. In addition to the three dead officers, six members of the security forces were wounded in the attack, said Gen. Abdul Rahman Rahman, a deputy minister at the Interior Ministry. At least eight civilians were also wounded, mostly from the bombing. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault, the second it has carried out in less than a week. On Wednesday, heavily armed bombers blew up the gate to an Afghan intelligence facility, killing at least one security officer and injuring numerous civilians. The consecutive attacks have rattled the relative security Kabul has experienced compared with other areas of the country. The group has promised to continue its fight against government targets in Kabul and elsewhere, creating unease among many Afghans as they prepare for coalition forces to withdraw troops from the country by 2014 or sooner. Still, within half an hour of the blast, the area was cordoned off by an array of Afghan security forces, as onlookers listened to the firefight from beyond the security perimeter. Periodically, debris from rocket-propelled grenades rained down on the street. Jawad Sukhanyar contributed reporting. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/world/asia/insurgents-attack-police-unit-in-kabul.html?_r=0 This attack was one among many others the last 12 months, and more are expected. Coordinated Kabul suicide attack targets government building Mon, Jan 21 2013

Violence across the country has been increasing over the last 12 months, sparking concern about how the 350,000-strong Afghan security forces will be able to manage once foreign troops withdraw by the end of 2014. Last week, six suicide bombers attacked the National Directorate of Security (NDS), killing two guards. That attack followed December's failed assassination attempt on NDS chief Asadullah Khalid. "It's very clear that more and more the Afghan security sources are getting into the lead, the more they are targeted by the insurgents," said Brigadier General Gunter Katz, spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USBRE90K03120130121

And very soon another attack followed by intensified counter insurgency took place.

Insurgents launch 4 attacks in Afghanistan Associated Press Sunday, February 24, 2013

The Associated Press A U.S. soldier, right, photographs the scene where an insurgent was shot to death near an Afghan intelligence office in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. A series of early morning attacks hit eastern Afghanistan Sunday, with three separate suicide bombings in outlying provinces and a shootout between security forces and a would-be attacker in the capital city of Kabul. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq) (…)The attacks were a reminder that insurgents are still going on the offensive even as U.S. and other international forces draw down. All four attacks Sunday appeared to target Afghan forces, who have been suffering higher casualties this year. Afghan soldiers and police are easier targets than their NATO

allies because their checkpoints and bases are less fortified. http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2013/feb/24/insurgents-launch-4-attacks-in-afghanistan/

Taliban's 'spring offensive' reminds Kabul of insurgents' reach The attacks were confronted almost entirely by Afghan police and soldiers, who have needed heavy support handling past attacks, but on Sunday had assistance only from a few permanent Norwegian mentors. Their efforts were hailed by Nato and the Afghan government. "I am enormously proud of how quickly Afghan security forces responded to today's attacks in Kabul," said General John Allen, the top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan. He said offers of foreign help had been declined so far, despite exchanges of gunfire on Sunday night. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/15/taliban-kabul-spring-offensive

The fight went on into residential aerials, which makes a very dangerous situation for civilians.

Analysis: What Kabul attacks say about Afghan security By Bilal SarwaryBBC News, Kabul 16 April 2012 Last updated at 13:20 (…) And it was not an easy fight for the Afghan forces as insurgents took over buildings and also went into residential areas. A senior general in charge of an elite Western-trained unit was badly injured. Ordinary Afghans were also quick to take to the air waves asking questions. Why was it going on so long? How had forces had not been able to prevent the same mistake being made twice? The simultaneous attacks in the provinces also struck fear into Afghans who ask if Kabul's most secure district and provincial centres cannot be protected, what can? The message they appear to be sending out is that the government is weak http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17725266

Insurgency activity was met by bombing from helicopters.

Taliban attack: Kabul insurgency over after 18-hour assault Published time: April 16, 2012 02:37 Edited time: April 16, 2012 15:59 Government forces and coalition helicopters have finally put an end to insurgents’ 18-hour attacks in Afghanistan. The Taliban-claimed raid on Kabul’s diplomatic area and three eastern cities was the most serious since the Taliban was ousted in 2001. Afghan Interior Minister Besmillah Mohammadi told reporters on Monday that a total of 36 insurgents were killed. Three civilians also lost their lives, and 32 others were wounded. 11 officers were killed and 42 wounded among the Afghan security forces. (…)Fighting raged near the parliament throughout the night and early Monday morning. Witnesses said rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire rocked the area. An Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman said some lawmakers grabbed weapons and started fighting back the militants sheltering in nearby buildings. http://rt.com/news/fighting-afghan-interior-ministry-116/

Five civilians were killed when guards fired on an assailant’s explosive vest in November. Suicide blast hits near U.S. base in Kabul By Heidi Vogt and Rahim Faiez - The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday Nov 21, 2012 6:48:58 EST

KABUL, Afghanistan — Two Taliban suicide bombers struck near a U.S. base in Kabul early Wednesday, killing two Afghan guards in the heart of a neighborhood filled with foreign forces and embassies. The attack came despite increased security ahead of a Muslim holy day that last year saw one the capital’s deadliest attacks. The bombers apparently meant to target the American base but were spotted by security guards as they approached on foot. The guards fired on the assailants, killing them, but not before one of the vests exploded, said Gen. Mohammad Daoud Amin, the deputy provincial police chief. Two Afghan security guards were killed and five civilians were wounded in the morning explosion, he said. The blast reverberated around Kabul’s Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood. An alarm started going off at the nearby U.S. Embassy, warning staff to take cover. The neighborhood also is home to many high-

ranking Afghan officials, international organizations and the headquarters of the international military coalition. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing in an email to reporters. The attack came as foreign and Afghan forces tightened their watch over the capital ahead of the holy day of Ashoura on Saturday, when Shiite Muslims commemorate the seventh century death of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson. http://www.armytimes.com/news/2012/11/ap-suicide-blast-hits-near-us-base-in-afghanistan-112112/

Bombing from a NATO helicopter was used to stop the insurgents did attack a hotel in Kabul in June 2011.

Police search Kabul hotel after Taliban attack kills 9 Wed, Jun 29 2011  Kabul hotel ablaze after Taliban suicide attack  Obama talks debt, Libya, Afghanistan 1 of 13. Smoke and flames rise from the Intercontinental hotel during a battle between NATO-led forces and suicide bombers and Taliban insurgents in Kabul June 29, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Stringer By Alistair Scrutton

KABUL | Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:38pm EDT

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan police sifted through one of Kabul's landmark hotels room by room on Wednesday for any more casualties, securing the building after an overnight assault by Taliban suicide bombers killed eight Afghan civilians and police and a foreigner. The nine attackers, armed with rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons, stormed the heavily guarded Intercontinental hotel, frequented by Westerners and VIPs, before a NATO helicopter killed the remaining insurgents in a final rooftop battle that ended a raid lasting more than five hours. The foreign victim was a Spanish civil aviation pilot, according to Spain's foreign ministry. The brazen raid came only a week after President Barack Obama announced a phased withdrawal of combat troops to 2014, and it raised more doubts about the ability of Afghan security forces to battle insurgents. (…) It needed a NATO helicopter to finally finish off the attackers, and NATO trainers helped oversee the Afghan police response to the raid. After several explosions, attackers entered the hotel late on Tuesday and made their way to the ballroom, a hotel receptionist said. Some carried tape recorders playing Taliban war songs and shot at anyone they saw. Guests jumped from second and third floors to escape, the receptionist told Reuters, asking not to be identified. "The police are still searching room by room to see if there are any casualties or any threats," Kabul (…)The two-day conference to discuss the transition was due to begin in a government building in the center of the city on Wednesday. Officials said the conference would go on despite the attack. Violence across Afghanistan in 2010 the worst since the Taliban were ousted by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in late 2001. (Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi, Omar Sobhani and Ahmad Masood; Editing by Robert Birsel) http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/29/us-afghanistan-violence-idUSTRE75R6BC20110629

NATO forces are busy protecting themselves in April 2011. Now they are leaving, and insurgency can concentrate on attacking Afghan forces.

Insurgent attack on Kabul base repulsed, NATO says Saturday, April 2, 2011 KABUL, Afghanistan -- NATO says its forces have successfully repelled an attack on one of its bases on the outskirts of the Afghan capital and killed at least two insurgents firing small arms and rocket- propelled grenades.

The coalition told The Associated Press in an email that three of its soldiers were wounded in Saturday's attack, but that their injuries were not serious. NATO said at least one attacker was possibly wearing a suicide vest. It added that the attack had ended. Kabul provincial Police chief Gen. Mohammad Ayub Salangi said there were reports of three attackers involved and that two died when their vests detonated. He said a third was shot. Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.. http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/02/insurgent-attack-on-kabul-base-repulsed-nato-says/?print

A man in army uniform opens fire in the Defence Ministry in April 2011. He is shot dead, “and the situation is normal” says Azimy. It is not reassuring that an attack is a normal situation in the ministry. How then, can the population’s security be provided for?

Insurgent strike inside Afghan defence ministry, 2 dead

Afghan army soldiers guard the outside of Afghanistan's Defence Ministry in Kabul, April 18, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Omar Sobhani By Hamid Shalizi KABUL |

KABUL (Reuters) - An insurgent killed two people in the Afghan defence ministry on Monday in the third attack on security installations in four days, with the violence likely to raise questions about military transition plans due to start this year. A man in an Afghan army uniform opened fire in the ministry in central Kabul, killing two employees and wounding seven, said Defence Ministry spokesman Zaher Azimy. The man was also wearing a suicide-bomb belt, but did not have time to detonate it, said Azimy, who had earlier described the man as a soldier rather than an insurgent in army uniform. "The attacker was shot dead before he set off his explosives, and the situation is normal," he said. The attack comes months before the start of a transfer of security responsibilities from foreign to Afghan forces, and after NATO-led troops claimed solid progress in efforts to bolster the numbers and quality of the Afghan police and army. Under the gradual transition programme, Afghan forces will begin by taking over from foreign troops in just a few areas, but should have control of the whole country by the end of 2014. But in recent days militants in security uniforms, or soldiers gone "rogue", have penetrated some of the most important police and army installations in the country, in attacks likely to compound worries about the security handover. (…) Although initial reports suggested the Kabul assault did not claim any senior victims, it was a heavy psychological blow to the heart of the army, and a reminder of insurgents' reach even in the centre of the capital and when they are under stepped up pressure from NATO-led forces and a growing Afghan army. The Defence Ministry lies near the Presidential palace and several other ministries. The road leading to the building was closed off on Monday afternoon, with even ministry employees turned away, but Azimy said the situation was now under control. (Writing by Emma Graham-Harrison; Editing by Robert Birsel) TOP NEWS http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/04/18/idINIndia-56406820110418

Men dressed like soldiers are not always what they seem to be. 27/04/11 16:24 CET WORLD NEWS Eight American troops from the NATO-led force in Afghanistan have been shot dead by an Afghan air force pilot at Kabul airport. An American contractor and the gunman were also killed in the shootout. British media reports quoted an Afghan security official who said the pilot was suffering from “mental illness” and got involved in an argument. However the Taliban said they had ordered the killings.

The shootings follow a series of attacks by Afghan security forces against their NATO colleagues carried out by so-called “rogue soldiers”. It is believed that rapid recruitment into the Afghan military has raised fears that the Taliban have infiltrated the service. The nationalities of those killed have yet to be released. More about: Afghanistan, Kabul, NATO,Shootings Copyright © 2013 euronews http://www.euronews.com/2011/04/27/foreign-soldiers-killed-in-kabul-airport-shooting

Insurgents and corrupt government officials are cooperating in Kabul and the provinces around the capital. It is not likely that Karzai will be able to stabilize the country. “Stability in the centre has steadily eroded.”

The Insurgency in Afghanistan’s Heartland Wednesday, June 29th, 2011 | Filed under ASIA,ISLAMIC TERRORISM,Latest Articles,NORTH AMERICA,USA,Uncategorized | Posted by admin

The Insurgency in Afghanistan’s Heartland

International Crisis Group

Bombing form helicopter in Kabul took place in September 2011. Afghan security forces prevent attacks every day. So insurgency is present in town also in 2011.

US: Kabul attacks a propaganda win for insurgents Ambassador calls 20-hour gunbattle that left 27 dead 'not a big deal' from military standpoint

Below:

Musadeq Sadeq / AP

A NATO helicopter flies around a building during a gunbattle with Taliban militants in Kabul on Wednesday.

NBC, msnbc.com and news services updated 9/14/2011 5:44:17 PM ET

KABUL, Afghanistan — American officials Wednesday blamed the bold attack on the U.S. Embassy on a Pakistan-based group allied with the Taliban, acknowledging that the assault brought a propaganda victory for the insurgents even as they played down its military significance. The attack underscored holes in Afghan security: Six fighters with heavy weapons took over an unfinished high-rise that authorities knew was a perfect roost for an attack on the embassy and NATO headquarters about 300 yards away. They then held out against a 20-hour barrage by hundreds of Afghan and foreign forces.

Musadeq Sadeq / AP People cheer after a building was cleared of militants on Wednesday in Kabul.

It appeared likely that either weaponry had been stored in the 12-story building ahead of time or that some insurgents had entered in advance with a supply of guns and ammunition. By the time the fighting ended at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the insurgents had killed 16 Afghans — five police officers and 11 civilians, more than half of them children. Six or seven rockets hit inside the embassy compound, but no embassy or NATO staff members were hurt. All 11 attackers — including four suicide bombers who targeted police buildings elsewhere in the city — were killed, authorities said. (…) U.S. Marine Corps Gen. John Allen, the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said the assault did not mean that Afghan security forces weren't doing their job, arguing that potential attacks are thwarted in Kabul nearly every day. However, he did allow that the violent standoff gave the Taliban the headlines they wanted. "I'll grant that they did get an IO (Information Operations) win," Allen told reporters in the capital. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/44514380/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/t/us-kabul-attacks- propaganda-win-insurgents/#.UafVb9KzJI4

This attack raises question about infiltration in Afghan security forces.

Infiltration? Taliban attacks in Kabul raise questions Proximity to US embassy in city’s most secure zone shows 'great deal of penetration' Below:

Daud Yardost / AFP - Getty Images

Smoke rises from buildings during an attack in the Kabul city center on Tuesday. The Taliban launched a major attack in the center of Kabul, hitting NATO's coalition force headquarters next to the US embassy in the Afghan capital.

By Zubair Babakarkhail and Ben Arnoldy Christian Science Monitor updated 9/13/2011 7:22:03 PM ET  Kabul, Afghanistan; and New Delhi — Gunmen stormed a high-rise building under construction in the Afghan capital Tuesday afternoon, raining rockets and small-arms fire on the nearby US embassy and homes of the elite. Other fighters raided an Afghan Border Police base across town. Fighting continues several hours later, but initial reports indicate no embassy or NATO staff have been wounded, while six Afghans have been killed and 15 more injured. Story: Attack on Kabul ends after 20 hours of fighting

Insurgents have targeted Kabul landmarks before, but this attack’s proximity to the city’s most secure zone further undermines confidence in the government’s ability to take over security from withdrawing international forces. In particular, the attack raises questions about Taliban infiltration into the ranks of even the most sensitive forces. "We’ve suspected for quite awhile that the Taliban have deeply penetrated the Afghan security forces … but to be able to do this in this secure zone shows a great deal of penetration," says Kamran Bokhari, an analyst with Stratfor, a Texas-based intelligence analysis firm. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/44505319/ns/world_news-christian_science_monitor/t/infiltration-taliban- attacks-kabul-raise-questions/#.UafaYdKzJI4

A week after this attack Former President Burhanuddin Rabbani who was central in the peace negations, was assassinated.

Afghan ex-leader's death threatens peace Former President Burhanuddin Rabbani's assassination marks another setback for current ruler Hamid Karzai. Erin Cunningham September 20 2011 15:55

Kabul used to be safe, some time before October 2011.

National Security Home>Collections>Attack Taliban strike in Kabul shows insurgency’s growing reliance on high-profile attacks in Afghan capital By Joshua Partlow and Greg Jaffe,October 29, 2011

View Photo Gallery - Troops and civilians killed in suicide blast targeting bus in Kabul: A… KABUL — The Taliban attack in Kabul on Saturday that killed at least 12 Americans, a Canadian and four Afghans highlights the insurgents’ growing reliance on high-profile bombings in the capital and targeted assassinations that seem designed to destroy Afghans’ confidence in their struggling government. A vehicle laden with explosives swerved into an armored U.S. military bus, resulting in one of the deadliest strikes aimed at Americans in Kabul in the past decade, according to U.S. military and Afghan officials. The American and Canadian dead included five soldiers and eight civilian contractors. The attack was the latest in a series of spectacular and frequently suicidal assaults in major cities against government and military targets. In recent weeks, Taliban fighters waged a prolonged gun-and-grenade battle aimed at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and killed a key Afghan peace envoy and former president in a suicide bomb attack. The shift in Taliban strategy has been driven, in part, by the addition of 30,000 U.S. troops who have pushed insurgent fighters out of their rural havens in the south and made it harder for them to attack front-line U.S. combat forces. In the wake of Saturday’s attack, U.S. commanders sought to highlight their gains over the past year. Gen. John R. Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said the bombing was designed “to hide the fact that [the Taliban] are losing territory, support and the will to fight.” But the attacks in the previously safe capital also highlight the Taliban’s resilience at a time when the United States is beginning a gradual drawdown of its forces in the country and trying to press forward with stalled peace talks. http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-10-29/world/35276935_1_taliban-strike- haqqani-network-taliban-attack

This ground attack was the deadliest since 2001, also civilians were killed.

Afghan insurgency: 13 US troops killed in ‘deadliest ground attack’ in Kabul By Agencies Published: October 30, 2011

Kabul has been relatively safe – before June 2010.

Attack on U.N. vehicle in Kabul leaves one dead The brazen assault near the heavily guarded U.S. Embassy in the Afghan capital raises concerns about humanitarian efforts in the region.

June 30, 2010|By Laura King, Los Angeles Times Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan — Assailants riddled a United Nations vehicle with bullets at a busy traffic circle in the heart of Kabul on Tuesday, killing an Afghan staffer and raising new safety concerns about humanitarian operations in the country. The daylight attack, which occurred close to the heavily guarded U.S. Embassy and the sprawling headquarters of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, also rattled residents of the capital. For much of the nearly nine-year war here, Kabul has been relatively secure even as the security situation deteriorated elsewhere. But insurgents occasionally seek to demonstrate their ability to strike at will in almost any part of the city. [email protected] http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/30/world/la-fg-afghan-un-20100630

Or, may be Kabul was not insecure some time before 2009? Insecurity was present before 2009; it was there before it started growing.

AFGHANISTAN: Growing insecurity in Kabul

The current insecurity trend is dissimilar to the 1990s, but it has the potential to get worse and push the capital back to the “old dark age” It was almost midnight when a massive bang awakened residents of Kabul’s fifth district on 5 September. A rocket had landed on a house killing three members of the family: the father, mother and a child. In the past month at least 10 rockets have been fired on different parts of Kabul, often killing or wounding civilians, according to the Ministry of Interior (MoI).(…)

History repeating itself? “People are increasingly worried about their security not only in Kabul but throughout the country,” said Ahmad Zaki, a Kabul resident.(…) Todd Vician, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul, told IRIN ISAF was concerned about the safety of Kabul citizens, and that it has been working hard to enhance the capability of the Afghan national security forces. Category: Children, HR Violations - Views: 3692 Read more: http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2009/09/09/afghanistan-growing-insecurity-in-kabul.html#ixzz2Wybh2sby

Category: Children, HR Violations – Views: 3662 http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2009/09/09/afghanistan-growing-insecurity-in-kabul.html

2) Possible military operation in places where the AGE have established their presence Kabul is not as secure as it needs to be. Insurgents store ammunition, and attack in town.

Analysis: What Kabul attacks say about Afghan security By Bilal SarwaryBBC News, Kabul 16 April 2012 Last updated at 13:20 • What do the attacks reveal about Afghanistan's security forces? The residents of central Kabul would have experienced a chilling sense of deja vu on Sunday as the first shots that rang out rapidly escalated into a multi-pronged assault on the city. Just over six months ago insurgents targeted the US embassy in the last major co-ordinated attack on Kabul. Then, as now, fighters took up position in a building under construction that offered them a launch-pad for their attack. Many of the elements of the attack are strikingly similar and many of the unanswered questions remain . Insurgents managed to stockpile vast amounts of weaponry and ammunition inside the building they used to launch attacks . A large number of insurgents managed to penetrate the well-protected heart of the city in an operation that must have taken months to plan . Insurgents communicated with each other throughout the attack . Analysts believe both attacks bear the hallmarks of the Haqqani network - the Pakistan-based militant group What many ordinary Afghans are asking is not how could this happen but how could this happen again?

High-profile attacks on Kabul . 15 April 2012: Seven sites including parliament, Nato HQ and foreign embassies attacked . 13 September 2011: Gunman seize unfinished high-rise to fire on Nato HQ and US embassy . 19 August 2011: Gunman storm British Council HQ, killing 12 people

What is different this time, more frightening for the city's residents and more chastening for the authorities, is that the militants managed to penetrate the most secure inner circle of Kabul's ring of steel - the Wazir Akbar Khan district. Across the road from the building where attackers based themselves is the highly sensitive intelligence installation, which is constantly under armed guard. There were also many more insurgents involved this time. Earlier this month a briefing by intelligence officials told journalists that the Taliban had lost the power to launch large-scale attacks. It is clear that this once again represents a serious security and intelligence failure - and also that lessons from previous attacks are difficult to act on. The Taliban have been eager to prove that they still have potency and this attack shows both a sophisticated level of co-ordination and that Kabul is not as secure as it needs to be. http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17725266

The article above raises a question: How could this happen again? The article below gives an answer: Somebody inside the government is cooperating with Taliban.

Security personnel raided a house in Kabul. Dozens of homes were evacuated. Vehicles containing explosives were found. This military operation put civilians at risk.

BBC News – ‘Eight insurgents killed’ in Kabul gun battle Thursday 2 August 2012. Afghan officials say eight insurgents believed to have been planning attacks in central Kabul have been killed in a gun battle. Security personnel raided a house in the east of the city and fighting broke out in the early hours of Thursday. The battle continued for six hours. Dozens of homes were evacuated and vehicles containing explosives were also found at the scene. The raid involved Afghan forces acting on a tip-off, officials said. Officials say three vehicles packed with explosives have been seized from insurgents along with suicide vests and other weapons, the BBC’s Bilal Sarwary in Kabul reports. Three insurgents with remote controls and directions for sophisticated attacks in different parts of the city were arrested last night, Kabul police chief General Mohammad Ayub Salangi told the BBC. “This was a really big plan. Thank God we were able to stop it,” intelligence agency spokesman Latifullah Mashal told the Associated Press. The Taliban has denied that its fighters were involved in the battle. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19090416

Insurgents were covered in burqas.

Afghan forces thwart insurgent attack on Kabul By Mirwais Harooni KABUL | Thu Aug 2, 2012 8:26am EDT

And 12th of August 2012 another military operation took place. Five insurgents were arrested in Kabul 12th of August 2012. Their presence in Kabul is established

News - Afghanistan Afghan Spy Agency Foils Kabul Suicide Attack, Arrests 5 Insurgents Sunday, 12 August 2012 11:27Last Updated on Sunday, 12 August 2012 14:02Written by TOLOnews.com

Five insurgents planning a co-ordinated suicide attack in Kabul city were arrested by security forces on Saturday night, a spokesman for Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security said.

"Five insurgents were captured last night about 1:00am in the Shur Bazaar area of Kabul city," NDS spokesman Lutfullah Mashal said. "They wanted to attack the Parliament and President Hamid Karzai [and] Second Vice-President Mohammad Karim Khalili's house." Insurgents are all the time present in Kabul, so that large, coordinated attacks are taking place. And then, military operations are also taking place regularly. http://tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/7192-afghan-spy-agency-foils-kabul-suicide-attack-arrests-5-insurgents-

Taliban has been in town for a while, here noticed in August 2011. Suicide Attacks in Kabul: a Sign of Things to Come? By Aryn BakerAug. 19, 2011Add a Comment

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Afghan special police forces arrive at the site of a suicide attack outside The British Council in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 19, 2011. (Photo: Dar Yasin / AP)

When suicide bombers attack, the knee jerk response from officials in NATO and the U.S. Military is that the tactic is a sign of desperation and weakness, and that insurgents would only use it because they have exhausted all other alternatives. Well, it looks like the Taliban are getting pretty good at desperation. Friday morning’s complex attack on the British Council in Kabul, a nondescript building in a residential area of the capital, followed a familiar pattern—according to the city’s criminal investigation department, one attacker detonated himself at the gate with a carload of explosives at a nearby roundabout, breaching the compound wall and allowing the other attackers access inside. A second suicide bomber detonated inside, and according to police a third and possibly fourth continued to exchange gunfire with security personnel several hours after the initial explosion. It’s not clear what exactly they were after. The British council is an educational institution that offers cultural and linguistic courses to Afghan nationals. And so early in the morning, it is unlikely that any British citizens would have been present. (According to the AP, Afghan officials said at least 10 people have been killed, including all the insurgents. Afghan authorities said at least eight Afghan policemen and a foreign security official – reportedly a New Zealand special services soldier – were killed.). August 19th marks the anniversary of Afghan independence from the British in 1919, though so far the Taliban, while taking credit for the attack, have not said that they chose the site for its symbolic resonance. While the death toll may have been mercifully low this time around, today’s attack caps a weeklong rampage that has seen some four dozen Afghans killed by insurgents across the country.(…) The Taliban are in the capital, and they can strike where they want, when they want. For residents of Kabul, and Afghanistan at large, that hardly seems like a sign of weakness. http://world.time.com/2011/08/19/suicide-attacks-in-kabul-a-sign-of-things-to-come/

Insurgency has been building up forces in and around Kabul for a long time, included inside the government and within the security forces. This is known in July 2011:

European think-tank warns: Insurgency strengthening in Afghanistan By James Cogan, 5 July 2011 The latest June 25 report on the US and NATO occupation of Afghanistan by the European-based International Crisis Group (ICG) concludes that the Taliban and other insurgent organisations are extending their influence across the country, and particularly around the capital Kabul.

The ICG contradicts the claims made by US President Barack Obama on June 22 when he announced the staged withdrawal of some American troops over the next 18 months. Obama declared that his surge of additional forces to Afghanistan had placed the occupation in a “position of strength.” He insisted that the Afghan army of President Hamid Karzai’s puppet government would be able to take over most security operations throughout the country by the end of 2014. Based on field research and interviews conducted in seven provinces of Afghanistan between November 2010 and May 2011, the ICG report stated that while “failure is not inevitable” for the US- led occupation, “success is far from guaranteed.” Rather than crumbling, the insurgency was merging with the country’s business elite and elements within Karzai’s government and security forces, as they all prepared for the perceived inevitable withdrawal of foreign forces. The report described growing “collusion” between insurgent groups and “corrupt government officials” in Kabul and surrounding provinces that were ostensibly under the control of NATO troops. It declared that “insecurity” and “billions of dollars in international assistance” were “progressively fusing the interests of political gatekeepers and insurgent commanders, providing new opportunities for criminals and insurgents to expand their influence inside the government.” http://wsws.org/articles/2011/jul2011/afgh-j05.shtml

In 2010 Taliban insurgency has outmaneuvered the Afghan government politically also in the Kabul area. Keeping Karzai's feet to the fire By Caroline Wadhams and Colin Cookman, July 21, 2010 Wednesday, July 21, 2010 -

(.-..) Many Afghans have joined the insurgency due to their anger with the Afghan government, from which they see themselves politically marginalized and which they perceive to be corrupt, illegitimate, and predatory. A recent Pentagon assessment found that only 29 out of 121 strategic districts surveyed were "sympathetic with" or "supportive of" the Afghan government; and a 2009 study of drivers of the insurgency found that in the insurgent areas of Wardak, Kandahar and the Kabul area, there was almost no support for the government, which was viewed as politically exclusive and a foreign puppet. The Taliban insurgency has outmaneuvered the Afghan government politically by promising swift justice and dispute resolution, providing shadow governance, and using sophisticated propaganda, violence and intimidation against those who cooperate with the Afghan government. Caroline Wadhams is the Director for South Asia Security Studies and Colin Cookman is a Research Assistant at the Center for American Progress. http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/07/21/keeping_karzais_feet_to_the_fire

3) Indiscriminate attacks A blast took place at around 9 am 18th of June in the Pol-e Sorkh area of Kabul city, near Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) building. The area is also a home for several international non-governmental organizations. Three were killed and 30 including six bodyguards of a Hazara MP were injured. The wounded have been taken to a nearby hospital. There is more to come.

News - Afghanistan Blast in Kabul as Karzai Announces Last Tranche of Transition (Update) Tuesday, 18 June 2013 10:07Last Updated on Tuesday, 18 June 2013 22:20Written by TOLOnews.com

A convoy of Afghan MP Mohammad Mohaqeq was struck by a roadside bomb this morning in Kabul city, killing at least three civilians and wounding 30 others, officials said.

Sources have confirmed to TOLOnews that Mr Mohaqeq has survived the attack but his six bodyguards were injured in the explosion. The 24 other injured are all civilians. The attack occured as the Afghan government and Nato held a ceremony in Kabul to announce the last tranche of security transition to Afghan forces, making the Afghan forces responsible for security of the whole country. The blast occurred at around 9 am in the Pol-e Sorkh area of Kabul city, near Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) building. The area is also a home for several international non- governmental organisations. “I saw three people falling down on the street and a woman with blood-soaked feet, the woman was helped by the police,” a witness told TOLOnews. The Head of Criminal Investigation Department of Kabul Police Gen. Zahir Zahir said, “The explosion occurred at 9 am. Three were killed and 30 including six bodyguards of the MP were injured.” The wounded have been taken to a nearby hospital (…). Meanwhile, TOLOnews reporter, Farhad Safi was also injured in the explosion. TOLOnews journalist at the blast scene, Haseeb Maududi, said windows of many buildings in the area were shattered. TOLOnews footage shows body parts in the area and a police vehicle which is badly damaged. No group including the Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. Last week, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vehicle at the gate of the Supreme Court in Kabul, killing 17 people and wounding 40 others. The Taliban group has vowed to intensify their attacks this summer. TOLOnews.com http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/10893-blast-in-kabul-as-karzai-announces-last-tranche-of-transition-update

If NGOs worry about their safety, they must consider if they are able to continue their work.

The Supreme Court was attacked 12th of June 2013. This is an attack at civil rights in Afghanistan.

Supreme Court Blast Kills 17 and Injures 40: Officials Tuesday, 11 June 2013 17:06Last Updated on Wednesday, 12 June 2013 12:07Written by Faridullah Sahil

A bomb blast happened at Masud Square near the Supreme Court in Kabul city at 4.15 pm on Tuesday. "A car full of explosives was detonated at the backside of the Supreme Court compound," security officials said. It is said that the car hit three buses which were waiting to pick up the Supreme Court employees. All the buses were badly damaged. The Head of Kabul Police Criminal Investigation Department Gen. Mohammad Zahir Zahir said that 17 civilians including women were killed and 40 including children injured in the blast. "At around 4 pm the enemies of Afghanistan once again targeted the civilians by detonating a car full of explosives. As a result, 17 civilians were killed and 40 wounded," Gen. Zahir told TOLOnews. Victims are being taken to a nearby hospital. (…) 15 civilians and three police officers were injured in this attack. (…) Meanwhile, the Provincial Police Chief Ghulam Sakhi Rogh Liwanai said that the bombers wanted to target a voter registration centre and the Provincial Council Office. But before they could accomplish their missions they were gunned down. Nightly News Bulletin TOLOnews Poll http://tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/10821-supreme-court-blast-kills-17-and-injures-40-officials

A suicide bomber killed at least 19 people 9th of March 2013. Amongst them were a woman and a child, and people who were going to work.

Blasts Hit Afghanistan After Arrival of Hagel By ALISSA J. RUBIN Published: March 9, 2013 KABUL, Afghanistan — A bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives struck outside the Afghan Defense Ministry on Saturday, killing at least 10 people in a blast just hours after Chuck Hagel, the new United States defense secretary, arrived here. (…) The attacks, with a combined death toll of at least 19, appeared to have been timed to coincide with Mr. Hagel’s visit, and a Taliban spokesman said that the Kabul explosion was intended as a message for the defense secretary. The violence in the heavily secured capital and in a more remote area of the country highlighted Afghanistan’s continuing vulnerability after nearly 12 years of international efforts to vanquish the insurgency. (…) Mr. Hagel, who is on his first visit here after being sworn in as defense secretary, said he was not surprised by the attacks. “We have a war here, and that’s just the reality,” said Mr. Hagel, a Vietnam veteran, on Saturday as he visited American troops in eastern Afghanistan. (…) After the Kabul bombing, a spokesman for the Public Health Ministry and Dr. Musa Wardak, the director of the military hospital, said that in addition to the 10 people killed at the Defense Ministry, including two Afghan soldiers, 14 other people were wounded, including two Afghan National Army officers. A woman and a child were also among the dead, Dr. Wardak said. The explosion, which was followed by heavy gunfire, occurred just as Kabul residents were going to work and the streets were busy with people on foot, on motorcycles and in cars. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/world/asia/blast-hits-kabul-shortly-after-hagel-arrives.html

The attacks in Kabul will probably increase sharply in the nearest future.

News – Afghanistan 85% of Insurgent Attacks Will Target Kabul: ANA Tuesday, 02 April 2013 20:35Written by Rafi Sediqi

An Afghan National Army commander said Tuesday that insurgents are planning to execute more of their attacks in Afghanistan's capital city over the next few months, suggesting that as many as 85 percent of its plans are focused on Kabul. "85 percent of all the security threats of this year are focused on Kabul. The country's enemies are taking aim at Kabul as their big target," said Gen Qadam Shah Shaheem, commander of the ANA Kabul 111 unit. "They want to target many of the security organsiations," he added.(…) Kabul police chief Gen Ayub Salangi who was present at the meeting spoke of the efforts to prevent weapons being brought into the capital for the attacks. "The opposition groups are endeavoring to use the four main roads to Kabul and pedestrians to move in artillery and explosives to make Kabul insecure," he said. Head of Kabul provincial council, however, expressed fear over lack of sufficient coordination between Afghan security organisations and the council. http://tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/10004-85-of-insurgent-attacks-will-target-kabul-ana

The aim of this attack was mainly US. Soliders, but also Afghan civilians were killed – as usual is in such attacks.

Attack on U.S. Military Vehicles Kills at Least 16 in Kabul By MATTHEW ROSENBERG and SANGAR RAHIMI May 16, 2013 KABUL, Afghanistan — A Toyota Corolla packed with explosives rammed a pair of American military vehicles in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Thursday, setting off a blast that killed at least 16 people, including 6 American military advisers, and shook the relative calm that has prevailed for months in the city, Afghan officials said. (…) Human remains and bits of metal and plastic and other material from the cars were scattered for hundreds of feet around the site of the attack. Blown-apart ration packets carried by soldiers could be seen, along with a partly burned iPhone. The United States-led coalition, in a brief statement, said two service members and four contractors had been killed. It did not specify their nationalities, though Afghan officials said they were all Americans. One witness, a man in his 40s who lives near where the explosives went off but would not give his name, said he was having breakfast with his family “when we heard a really loud boom, and then there was a fireball.” He added: “Our entire house was engulfed by smoke and dust. Glasses shattered, windows broke. Suddenly the daylight turned to darkness.” He said he ran out to see a large generator outside an Afghan bank branch in flames and bodies littering the street. “Some bleeding, some with missing limbs, some black like coal,” he said, calling it a “dreadful scene.” Capt. Faizullah, an Afghan Army commander at the scene, said an Afghan interpreter for the coalition had been killed along with the American advisers. The Americans worked with the intelligence department of the Defense Ministry, which is about half a mile from the scene of the attack, said Captain Faizullah, who, like many Afghans, uses a single name. Kanishka Baktash, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health, said the blast also killed nine Afghan civilians. Many of their bodies were burned beyond recognition.Jawad Sukhanyar contributed reporting. http://wap.nytimes.com/2013/05/17/world/asia/kabul-car-bomb-attack.html

Gunfire and explosions in the capital were again heard 24th of May. The initial blast came close to a hospital

Taliban launch attack in downtown Kabul © AFP file Gunfire and explosions rocked central Kabul on Friday after at least two suicide bombs tore through the Afghan capital, the second attack to hit the city in just over a week. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the blasts.

By Luke SHRAGO (video) News Wires (text)

Explosions and gunfire rocked central Kabul Friday as the Taliban launched an attack close to an Afghan intelligence facility and the headquarters of a government force that protects foreign firms. The attack comes a week after a suicide car bomb targeting a foreign military convoy killed 15 people including five Americans in the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital for nearly a year. The Taliban announced their annual "spring offensive" on April 27, opening a crucial period as local security forces take the lead in the fight against the insurgents. At least two blasts hit the centre of Kabul at about 4:00 pm (1130 GMT) on Friday, the second day of the Afghan weekend, and gunfire erupted as security forces rushed to the scene. Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai told AFP the initial blast came close to a hospital run by the NDS intelligence agency and the headquarters of the Afghan Public Protection Force (APPF), a government force that provides security for clients including international firms, supply convoys and aid groups. He said gunmen had occupied a building in the attack, which is ongoing. Jawed Kazem, a local shopkeeper, said: "I was sitting in my shop when the explosion happened. It was a big explosion which threw me off my chair, minutes later another explosion happened. "Smoke is rising and gunfire is continuing." Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told AFP that his group was responsible and added that the attack began with a suicide car bombing. The attacks further underline the capital's vulnerability to militant assaults as 100,000 NATO troops gradually withdraw from Afghanistan ahead of the end of international combat operations next year.(…) More than 11 years after the Taliban regime was ousted in 2001, efforts to seek a political settlement ending the violence have so far made little progress, but pressure is growing ahead of the NATO withdrawal. (AFP)http://www.france24.com/en/20130524-gunfire-suicide-bomb-explosions-kabul-afghanistan

The home of returned, rejected Afghan asylum seekers was the aim of one of the attacks this very same day. This attack makes returning asylum seekers highly questionable. They are indeed soft targets. Fortunately most of the people living at IOM, were evacuated, this time... Afghan Taliban attack aid group, 2 guards killed May 24, 2013 by The Associated Press / KAY JOHNSON (Associated Press)

(AP) -- In the latest militant strike on the Afghan capital, Taliban gunmen backed by a suicide car bomber attacked an international aid group's compound on Friday, killing two guards and setting off an hours- long street battle with police in the heart of Kabul . The attack, the second in the city in just over a week, also left four International Organization for Migration workers wounded including an Italian woman badly burned by a grenade. Thirteen police were wounded while all six attackers died in the assault, authorities said. The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the attack on a guest house used by the IOM in an upscale neighborhood of Kabul, a relatively uncommon operation by the group targeting an international aid group.

At the chaotic scene of the siege, dozens of Afghan police took cover behind blast walls and rushed around through a thick cloud of smoke made by the bomb. At least one wounded officer was seen being helped away by his comrades. The insurgents have unleashed a wave of bombings and assassinations around the country, testing Afghan security forces' ability to respond with reduced help from international forces, who have begun a withdrawal that will see most foreign troops gone by the end of 2014. A Nepalese guard and an Afghan police officer providing security to the compound died in the assault as well as all of the attackers, said Kabul police chief Mohammad Ayoub Salangi. The attackers stormed into the building with grenade launchers after blasting open the compound's gate with the car bomb, Salangi said. He said police were able to evacuate the guest house with none of the residents killed. From when the initial blast shook much of the city in the late afternoon until well past nightfall, fighting was still going on in the upscale Shahr-i-Now neighborhood, home to several international groups' fortified compounds as well as the headquarters of the Afghan Public Protection Force and a hospital run by the National Directorate for Security. The IOM is an inter-governmental organization based in Geneva that helps resettle people worldwide. It operates in Afghanistan in a mission coordinated by the U.N. but is not an agency of the world body. Last Thursday in Kabul, a suicide car bomber killed six Americans, including two soldiers, and nine Afghan bystanders in an attack on a U.S. convoy. Another insurgent faction, Hizb-i-Islami, claimed that bombing. AP writers Amir Shah in Kabul and John Heilprin in Geneva contributed to this report. http://www.newsday.com/news/world/afghan-taliban-attack-aid-group-2-guards-killed-1.5330038

The attackers planted booby traps for the refugees to walk into.

The Afghan forces managed to hold the attackers at bay, and hundreds of international agency employees in nearby compounds escaped harm. But at least two people were killed and 13 wounded, including an Italian woman, and it took more than six hours for hundreds of Afghan police officers to subdue no more than six attackers with suicide vests, guns and grenade launchers. (…) Explosions continued through the night. The authorities said they were from booby traps the attackers had planted in the compound. It was the first example of what the military calls a “complex attack,” involving both gunmen and suicide bombers, in the capital since insurgents attacked the headquarters of the unarmed traffic police force in January. It took Afghan forces nine hours to bring that to an end. Sangar Rahimi, Azam Ahmed and Matthew Rosenberg contributed reporting. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/25/world/asia/insurgents-attack-near-un-mission-in-kabul.html?_r=0

Schoolchildren are not legitimate military objects.

Taliban's 'spring offensive' reminds Kabul of insurgents' reach Simultaneous attacks on embassies, Nato HQ and parliament marks group's most ambitious strike

 Emma Graham-Harrison in Kabul guardian.co.uk, Sunday 15 April 2012 21.56 BST

IED was placed to murder innocent civilians.

A teenager did a suicidal attach that killed only civilians in Kabul 8th of September 2012.

ISAF Releases ISAF condemns Kabul suicide bombing

KABUL, Afghanistan (Sept. 8, 2012) — The International Security Assistance Force condemns today's suicide attack in Kabul, which killed several innocent Afghan civilians. According to reports from Afghan security officials, who immediately arrived on scene to secure the area, the suicide attacker today was a teenaged youth. Attacks like these exploit vulnerable individuals, coercing them into committing horrible acts. Initial casualty reports indicate only Afghan civilians suffered injuries or died from the explosion. "If these reports are true, by taking advantage of an impressionable child to carry out this attack, the insurgents display cowardice. Forcing underage youth to do their dirty work again proves the insurgency's despicable tactics. They are completely detached from Afghan society and the interests of the Afghan people who desire peace and stability in their country," said Brig. Gen. Günter Katz, ISAF spokesman. "I offer my condolences to the families and loved ones of any innocent civilians killed today as a result of this attack," Katz added. http://www.isaf.nato.int/article/isaf-releases/isaf-condemns-kabul-suicide-bombing.html

A suicide bomber killed 14 people 19th September 2012, among them 2 persons who just happened to be on the road.

KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber killed 14 people on Tuesday, including 10 foreigners, most of whom worked as flight crew members under contract with the United States government, officials said. The attack brought to at least 28 the number of deaths attributed to unrest sweeping the Muslim world as a result of a video parodying the Prophet Muhammad.(…) A spokesman for an Afghan insurgent group, Hezb-i-Islami, claimed responsibility for the bombing and said it was carried out by an 18-year-old woman “in response to the film insulting the Prophet Muhammad and Islam.” (…) In the attack on Tuesday, the suicide bomber drove a car full of explosives at high speed head-on into a minibus carrying foreign workers on Airport Road, killing all 12 people aboard and two people on the road, according to the police. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/world/asia/bomber-strikes-vehicle-carrying-foreigners-in-kabul.html?_r=0

A taxi and a TV studio are not legitimate military object.

Because of a wave of anti-American sentiments which amongst others this attack is a result of, Coalition Forces are very reluctant to assist Afghan troops. This makes it more difficult to protect civilians.

Asia Pacific Coalition Sharply Reduces Joint Operations With Afghan Troops KABUL, Afghanistan — In a significant blow to a core element of the Western exit strategy from Afghanistan, the American-led military coalition said Tuesday that it had temporarily curtailed joint operations with the Afghan Army and police forces. The new limits are a sign of how American priorities were being drastically reordered amid a wave of anti-American sentiment brought on by an anti-Islam movie, which has sparked riots across the Muslim world and on Tuesday was the motive behind a suicide bombing here that killed 14 people, 10 of them foreigners. (…) “We rely on the Americans for everything,” said Major Salam, the officer in western Afghanistan. “We still need their support.” If the Americans “abandon us,” he added, “they should know that it would be the end of everything for all of us.” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/world/asia/nato-curbs-joint-operations-with-afghan- troops.html?ref=asia

The first indiscriminate attack in 2011 did not wait for the spring. It came in January.

ISAF Releases ISAF Condemns Insurgent IED Attack in Kabul

ISAF Joint Command - Afghanistan 2011-01-CA-004

KABUL, Afghanistan (Jan. 12, 2011) – The International Security Assistance Force condemns today’s indiscriminate insurgent attack in Kabul city which killed at least two Afghans and injured at least 32 more. Initial reports indicate an insurgent on a motorcycle detonated an IED in front of a hospital in Kabul city today. At least one Afghan civilian and one member of the National Directorate of Security were killed in the blast. The wounded include NDS personnel, several hospital patients and civilians. “This vile attack deliberately targeted Afghan officials and civilians. We offer our sincere condolences to the families of those murdered by this attack, and we wish for a swift recovery for all those injured,” said Rear Admiral Vic Beck, ISAF Director of Public Affairs. “We will continue our efforts to assist the Afghan government in bringing those responsible to justice.” http://www.isaf.nato.int/article/isaf-releases/isaf-condemns-insurgent-ied-attack-in-kabul.html

Also in 2010 Kabul was under attack in January. Taliban showed disregard for civilian lives.

Attack in Kabul Una Moore - January 19, 2010 - 2:05 pm

Ed Note: UN Dispatch welcomes blogger Una Moore to our roster of contributors. Una is an international development specialist who focuses on security and governance in post-conflict settings. Follow her on Twitter.

At least a dozen Taliban gunmen, some armed with suicide vest, simultaneously attacked multiple targets in central Kabul Monday morning, killing at least two civilians and wounding 71 others in yet another violent illustration of Afghan capital's vulnerability. The central bank, a shopping mall, the presidential palace and several government ministries all appeared to have been targets of the commando-style attack. According to the New York Times, one gunman drove an ambulance into a busy traffic circle before detonating his suicide vest and sending bystanders fleeing. Another attacker detonated in front of a popular cinema. Nearby, more gunmen fought Afghan security forces during a four-hour battle that shut down much of the city. Videos of the Monday attacks, uploaded to YouTube by journalists and ordinary citizens, showed groups of terrified pedestrians running from the scene as gunfire crackles and dust rises from explosions in the distance. In a video shot by a cameraman for Erasaneh television, journalists and Afghan security forces are seen running for their lives just before a car bomb detonates, sending a fireball into the air and injuring an Iranian journalist on camera.

When the street battle ended, three Afghan soldiers, two civilians, and seven attackers lay dead. Flames poured out the windows of the Feroshgah-e Afghan shopping center, now just a ruined shell. Dozens of injured civilians, most of them wounded by fragments from the many hand grenades thrown by the Taliban, were taken to hospitals. Order had been restored to the city center by nightfall, but smoke was still rising from several explosion sites. Afghan and international officials were rattled and angry. Taliban suicide bombers had come within fifty yards of the presidential palace, where President Hamid Karzai had been swearing in new cabinet members when the attacks began.

"To be able to infiltrate at such depth, into the inner periphery of power here, is a mind-blowing achievement," Afghan parliament member Daud Sultanzoi told the Wall Street Journal. "If you look at the pattern, they are steadily escalating in their coordination and their capability." “The location of the attack, in central Kabul, at a time when many civilians were present, demonstrates a staggering disregard for civilian lives,” said Kai Eide, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative. According to a UN human rights report released last week, the Taliban and other anti-government forces caused three times more civilian deaths in 2009 than NATO and other pro-government forces, and the overall number of civilians killed by the Taliban shot up 41 percent between 2008 and 2009. In contrast, civilian deaths caused by NATO and pro-government forces fell by 28 percent, a drop UNAMA attributed to deliberate measures taken by international military forces to reduce the risks posed to civilians by military operations. UNAMA’s Chief Human Rights Officer Norah Niland called on the Taliban to make similar efforts. “It is vital that determined efforts are now made by the insurgency to put into effect the Taliban ‘Code of Conduct’ that calls on them to protect the lives of civilians,” Niland said at the report’s release. If the Monday attacks in Kabul are any indication, insurgents don’t plan on changing tactics any time soon. Image: Flickr (UNAMA) http://www.undispatch.com/node/9449

The number of attacks did rice in 2009, according to this article from January 2010.

US girds for more violence in Kabul Shifting troops could imperil military progress

People stood in the compound of a damaged guesthouse in Kabul, the day after suicide attacks in February. There were 26 attempted attacks using improvised explosives in Kabul last year. (Altaf Qadri/Associated Press) By Bryan Bender Globe Staff / March 26, 2010 WASHINGTON — Insurgents are preparing a campaign of suicide bombings and other high-profile attacks in the bustling but poorly protected Afghan capital of Kabul this summer, posing a new threat to the fragile Afghan government and the recent military gains of the American-led counterinsurgency, according to several US officials and advisers briefed on recent intelligence reports. According to the Afghanistan Index, compiled by the nonpartisan Brookings Institution in Washington, there were 26 attempted attacks using improvised explosives in Kabul last year, compared with 636 in the eastern part of the country and 480 in the south. Still, the number of attempted attacks in Kabul more than doubled. And although some officials doubt that insurgents could inflict anywhere near the level of violence in 2006 that seized Baghdad, which suffered thousands of casualties from suicide bombings attributed to the group Al Qaeda in Iraq, the destructive power of the bombings in Afghanistan is on the rise Lieutenant General Michael Oates, who oversees US efforts to combat so-called “improvised explosive devices,’’ testified to a House committee last week that the lethality of attacks in Afghanistan has increased 50 percent over the past three years, including the size of the explosives. Specialists believe Kabul is already becoming a more appealing target for the Haqqani Network, so named for its leader, Jalaluddin Haqqani, and considered one of the most sophisticated of Afghanistan’s insurgent groups. The group dates to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s and has strong links with the Al Qaeda terrorist leadership and its pool of young foreign recruits. From its radical religious schools and training camps in North Waziristan in Pakistan’s lawless tribal region it has recruited Afghans, Pakistanis, Arabs, and others to carry out a series of attacks in the past two years, including the simultaneous bombings of government buildings in the city of Khost, a suicide attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul, and an attempt to bomb the motorcade of the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai. The group has extended its reach to more Afghan provinces, including those adjacent to Kabul. “The network is responsible for conducting spectacular attacks within the provinces of Khost, Paktia, Paktika, Logar, Kabul, and increasingly in areas like Nangarhar, and Kunar,’’ said Matthew Dupee, an Afghan security specialist at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. “This puts Kabul directly in the cross-hairs.’’ It also appears to have an “ample supply of willing suicide bombers and tactically dedicated fighters,’’ he added, and is believed to receive help in planning attacks from corrupt officials inside the Afghan Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for police forces, as well as the Ministry of Defense. In recent months Afghan Army personnel have been indicted for having connections to the militant group. Bender can be reached at [email protected]. © Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/03/26/us_girds_for_more_violence_in_kabul/

An attack rattled residents in Kabul in June 2010. Insurgents demonstrated that they could strike at will almost everywhere in the city then. Now, they can strike everywhere.

Attack on U.N. vehicle in Kabul leaves one dead The brazen assault near the heavily guarded U.S. Embassy in the Afghan capital raises concerns about humanitarian efforts in the region. June 30, 2010|By Laura King, Los Angeles Times Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan — Assailants riddled a United Nations vehicle with bullets at a busy traffic circle in the heart of Kabul on Tuesday, killing an Afghan staffer and raising new safety concerns about humanitarian operations in the country. The daylight attack, which occurred close to the heavily guarded U.S. Embassy and the sprawling headquarters of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, also rattled residents of the capital. For much of the nearly nine-year war here, Kabul has been relatively secure even as the security situation deteriorated elsewhere. But insurgents occasionally seek to demonstrate their ability to strike at will in almost any part of the city. The Taliban fired rocket-propelled grenades this month at a gathering where President Hamid Karzai was speaking and last month set off a massive vehicle bomb on a busy roadway that killed several high- ranking Western military officers. (…) Relations between Afghans and Western troops are often fraught with tension, as illustrated by a near- riot that took place Tuesday in Kabul after rumors spread that American troops had desecrated a madrasa, or religious seminary, by bringing dogs along on an overnight raid in the southeastern part of the city. In Islam, dogs are considered unclean. Afghan police said the raid was carried out solely by Afghan forces, although foreign troops guarded the perimeter. No dogs were involved, the Western military said, and Said Ghafar, the director of criminal investigation for the Kabul police, blamed "enemy propaganda" for the story's dissemination. Seven Afghan police officers were injured in the rock-throwing melee that broke out hours later in the neighborhood. Hundreds of protesters shouted slogans denouncing the American "occupation." [email protected] http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/30/world/la-fg-afghan-un-20100630

The airport where returned asylum seekers have to arrive was attacked. That has happened several times.

There was a sharp increase in civilian killed in battle the first 6 months of 2010. Two in Kabul died because guards fought back.

UN: Afghan civilian deaths jumped 25 percent in first half of 2010; attack in Kabul kills 2 Published August 09, 2010 | Associated Press KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The number of civilians killed in the Afghan war jumped 25 percent in the first half of 2010 compared with the same period last year, with insurgents responsible for the spike, the United Nations said in a report Tuesday. Shortly after the U.N. released its report in Kabul, two gunmen with explosives strapped to them tried to storm the office of an international security company in the capital. When guards fought back, the men detonated their explosives, killing two Afghan drivers. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/08/09/charity-plans-stay-afghanistan-despite-murders-aid-workers/

“We have reports on a number of locals injured. That’s all we know”. Kabul, August 2010

Taliban bombers target Western security villa in Kabul KABUL (10th August 2010)

Taliban suicide bombers blew themselves up at the entrance of a guesthouse occupied by a Western security company in central Kabul on Tuesday, killing two drivers, police and witnesses said. “There were two suicide bombers who detonated themselves at the entrance. Two drivers were killed and a security guard was injured,” Sayed Abdul Ghafar Sayedzada, the head of police criminal investigations, told reporters. Sayedzada said the two civilians killed were drivers, and that the guesthouse was used by international security contractors Hart. A senior representative of the London-based company told AFP: “THere was an incident in the vicinity of the Hart villa. We have reports on a number of locals injured. That’s all we know”. Interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary confirmed there had been a suicide attack in the Taimani district north of Kabul. Shopkeeper Ghulam Mustafa told AFP he heard gunshots for a few minutes and later a “big explosion”. The Taliban claimed responsibility for a joint suicide and gun attack. An AFP reporter saw three bodies, one of them riddled with bullets, near the single-storey guesthouse that local residents said was run by foreigners. A car could be seen at the guesthouse entrance, where the gates had been blown away. Insurgents have increasingly targeted guesthouses in the capital, which is heavily fortified with a “ring of steel” in place to secure the city perimeter. The last suicide attack was on July 18 when a bomber on a bicycle struck a bustling street, killing three people two days ahead of an international conference in Kabul attended by major foreign donors. In the insurgent south of Afghanistan, six police officers were killed in two attacks, police said Tuesday. Nearly 150,000 US-led coalition forces are in Afghanistan fighting a nearly nine-year Taliban- led insurgency that is as its most fierce in the militants’ southern heartlands of Kandahar and Helmand provinces. http://www.aaj.tv/2010/08/taliban-bombers-target-western-security-villa-in-kabul/

In February 2009 coordinated attacks killed at least 26 persons.

Coordinated Taliban attacks kill at least 26 in Kabul KABUL – Near-simultaneous suicide attacks targeting civilians and government personnel in the Afghan capital, Kabul, have left at least 26 dead and 55 wounded. Eight suicide bombers are believed to have died while carrying out the midmorning attacks, for which the Taliban has claimed responsibility. The incidents came one day ahead of a visit by the United States' special envoy to Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke. The most high-profile of the attacks occurred when several armed militants wearing explosive belts stormed the Afghan Justice Ministry, situated next to the presidential compound in the center of Kabul. (…) "Officials confirmed that it was a suicide bombing. And it has killed many people but nobody has the exact figures of those killed," Radio Free Afghanistan's Hamid Mohmand reports. "Officials are only saying that it caused many casualties. A third group of suicide bombers who were trying to enter the Education Ministry building in central Kabul were confronted by the police and were killed before entering that building."

More Attacks Expected Afghan officials have also said that yet another assault, this one on the government's department of corrections, killed up to 10 people, Mohmand reports. He also reports that an attempted attack on the Education Ministry was foiled. The attacks, coming at the peak of morning activity, caused panic in the Afghan capital, with many businesses and offices closing for the day as people moved to the safety of their homes.

Afghan police inspect a car that was damaged during one of the suicide attacks in Kabul. 30

Seven years after being forced out of power, the resurgent Taliban have carried out a number of high- profile, and increasingly lethal, attacks in Afghan cities in recent months. Copyright notice: Copyright (c) 2007-2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036 http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=printdoc&docid=499e98d6c Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Coordinated Taliban attacks kill at least 26 in Kabul, 11 February 2009, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/499e98d6c.html [accessed 3 June 2013]

A rocket landed on a house and killed family: the father, mother and a child. Armed criminal gangs are not only blamed for abductions, assassinations and extortion, but are believed to be smuggling arms, explosives and supplying intelligence to the insurgents, experts say. Many persons might run away from Kabul again. This was the situation in 2009, ca. four years ago. History is repeating itself.

AFGHANISTAN: Growing insecurity in Kabul

“The current insecurity trend is dissimilar to the 1990s, but it has the potential to get worse and push the capital back to the old dark age,”

It was almost midnight when a massive bang awakened residents of Kabul’s fifth district on 5 September. A rocket had landed on a house killing three members of the family: the father, mother and a child.

Mir Aziz, his wife and their daughter died when a rocket landed on their house in Kabul on 5 September (Photo: Roshan/IRIN)

Organized crime Some analysts are linking organized crime, corruption and illegal militia groups to the latest spate of attacks in the capital.(…) “There are criminal elements that add fuel to the insurgency-related insecurity,” Wadeer Safi, a law professor and political analyst, told IRIN. Armed criminal gangs are not only blamed for abductions, assassinations and extortion, but are believed to be smuggling arms, explosives and supplying intelligence to the insurgents, experts say. “Some criminal activities such as drug smuggling and high-profile kidnappings have financial and political linkages with the insurgency,” said MoI’s Bashari.

“No one wants to live in a city with constant fear of death in [the form of] a blind rocket or explosion,” said political analyst Safi. Category: Children, HR Violations - Views: 3662 http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2009/09/09/afghanistan-growing-insecurity-in-kabul.html

18th of August 2009 a car bomber killed 10 persons, 9 Afghans, two of them worked for UN. More than 50 were wounded.

BBC News Page last updated at 17:15 GMT, Tuesday, 18 August 2009 18:15 UK

In other violence on Tuesday: ANALYSIS • A rocket was fired into the presidential compound in the capital, Kabul; no-one was reported injured (…). Hugh Sykes, BBC News, Kabul

Body parts The suicide car bomb went off at The Taliban claimed about 1pm on the main road out of responsibility for the I was inside my shop and then it collapsed on me, so I Kabul to Jalalabad. Kabul suicide blast, walked away, there were a lot of dead bodies It's also the route to the sprawling

which targeted a convoy Bagram international military base. of foreign troops near a Jawed Ahmad The road is often used to transport members of the Kabul shopkeeper bustling market on the International Security and Assistance Force in

busy Jalalabad road. Afghan election fraud is unearthed Afghanistan, and it is believed they were the Nato's International In pictures: Kabul car bomb intended target. Security Assistance Q&A: Afghan election The bomb was heard in the neighbourhood and Force (Isaf) said in a statement: "Updated reports indicate those sent up a huge plume of black smoke, said killed were one Isaf service member, seven Afghan civilians and two witnesses, but Kabul's busy daily routine was barely Afghan civilian employees of the United Nations Assistance Mission affected. in Afghanistan." An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw British soldiers, who were securing the site, collecting what appeared to be body parts from the roof of an Afghan home. "I was inside my shop and then it collapsed on me, so I walked away. There were a lot of dead bodies," shopkeeper Jawed Ahmad said. (…) Thursday's vote will be Afghanistan's second presidential election since the US-led invasion in 2001 toppled the Taliban regime. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8207301.stm

One month later, the aim was Italian soldiers again. 6 of them died. Most of the killed ones were Afghan civilians.

BBC News Page last updated at 19:53 GMT, Thursday, 17 September 2009 20:53 UK

Deadly attack Witnesses say an explosives-laden vehicle rammed into the Italian military convoy on Kabul's busy airport road.(…) Student Jamal Nasir was in his car when the bomber struck and described an almost deafening blast. "I could see thick black smoke behind us... There were screams and car horns. People were running over each other and in the panic cars were driving on pedestrian lanes," he told the BBC. The blast caused considerable destruction in the immediate vicinity, with a number of shops badly damaged. Witnesses described blood-stained roads and twisted metal littering the area. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8260419.stm

People have been running away from Kabul since 2009, if not earlier. It makes no sence to send refugees there. Civilians are often killed.

BBC news Page last updated at 14:38 GMT, Thursday, 8 October 2009 15:38 UK

Ambulances rushed to the location of the blast A Taliban suicide bomber has attacked the Indian embassy in Kabul, killing at least 17 people in a second attack on the building in little over a year. Afghan officials say a car bomber blew himself up near the Indian embassy and the Afghan interior ministry. The Taliban said it carried out the attack and the embassy was the target. Kabul has been attacked regularly in recent months, and the Indian embassy was itself bombed in July 2008, with dozens of people killed. Most strikes in the capital target foreign forces or government offices - but civilians are also often killed. More recently, six Italian soldiers were killed last month in a bomb attack on a military convoy.

'Cleaners killed' (…) An eyewitness, Habib Jan, told the BBC the victims were civilians. "A [Toyota] Corolla car was parked in front of the Indian embassy. It was rush hour, about 10 minutes after I arrived at the office when we heard an explosion. "There were lots of workers cleaning the street - most of them have been killed."

Regional links Nirupama Rao told reporters that she believed the suicide bomb was directed against the Indian embassy. In July 2008 a suicide bomber rammed a car full of explosives into the gates of the embassy, killing dozens of people and injuring more than 140.

(…) The Afghan Interior Ministry said 17 people had died and 63 had DEADLY KABUL ATTACKS been wounded in the latest attack. Fifteen of the dead were Afghan civilians and one was an Afghan police officer. Sept 2009: Suicide bomber kills two civilians at the main airport The BBC's Martin Patience, in Kabul, says there appears to be a lot of damage at the scene - now sealed off - and that municipal workers Aug 2009: Suicide car bomber kills 10 people in an attack on a convoy of Western troops. have moved into the area with brooms to begin a clean-up. Aug 2009: Suicide bomb outside Nato headquarters kills seven Growing threat people This is thought to be the fourth bomb attack in Kabul since August. Until the summer, the Afghan capital was regarded as relatively secure, Feb 2009: Suicide attackers kill 19 people in three government but that is changing, our correspondent says. buildings Insurgents are increasingly targeting the Jul 2008: Suicide car bomber kills more than 50 at Indian capital because of the publicity it attracts. embassy Militants seem to be able to attack at will in what should be one of the most secure

areas of the country, our correspondent adds. In pictures: Kabul blast Edrees Kakar, an office worker and freelance journalist, who heard the latest India: Influential Afghan ally explosion, told the BBC: "These bomb attacks are happening so frequently that people no longer feel safe. "People are leaving their homes less and less. We are frustrated and feel we are not getting sufficient help from the international community." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8296137.stm

Kabul City has witnessed a significant escalation in the number of suicide and rocket attacks also in 2009.

 Kabul City has witnessed a significant escalation in the number of suicide and rocket attacks in the last year. Since late August 2009, there have been fourteen successful suicide attacks in the City, with at least five further suicide attacks known to have been thwarted. Of these fourteen attacks, eight have been directed against ISAF (including an attack on their main headquarters in Shash Darak). The remainder of attacks have been conducted against a variety of targets including: an Embassy (Indian); the UN (a guesthouse); an international hotel (the Heetal); an international guesthouse (Noor); a private security company compound; and a large complex attack against multiple ministries on 18 January 2010. Not only has the frequency of attack increased, but also the audacity and scale. It remains likely that insurgent commanders will continue to attempt to carry out sporadic attacks inside Kabul City. http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/asia-oceania/afghanistan

4) Systematic acts of intimidation Failed returned asylum seekers are targeted by Taliban. They are believed to be agents for the authorities in the country that rejected them. At least 11 that have been deported from Australia have been killed.

MARCH 17, 2013 · 11:20 PM The asylum seeker we sent home to his death March 17, 2013

Families are also attacked. Not a soldier was in sight when Taliban attacked families relaxing at the resort on Qargha Lake there Taliban’s arbitrary killings took place in June 2012.

Taliban insurgents attack popular Kabul resort; at least 20 killed

By Joshua Partlow, Published: June 22The Washington Post

Taliban insurgents stormed a hotel north of the Afghan capital Kabul, killing at least 18 people and holding hostages. Afghan forces needed 12 hours to clear out the attackers and end the long standoff midday Friday. By the end, at least 20 people lay dead, including restaurant patrons, cooks, guards, police and all seven of the attackers, according to Kabul police chief Ayoub Salangi. But the insurgents proved once again that few places, even in the heavily policed capital, lie beyond their reach. The choice of targets — a restaurant frequented primarily by Afghan families — was somewhat unusual for the Taliban, which has tended to marshal its limited resources to assault symbols of government or U.S. military power, such as armored convoys, ministries or Western embassies. But the insurgents have also attacked hotels, shopping centers and supermarkets in recent years. In claiming responsibility for the attack, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid characterized the restaurant and nearby Spozhmai Hotel as a den of booze, prostitution, dancing and “wild parties” that catered to foreigners and was an affront to Islam. But Afghan police strongly disputed the description, saying the resort on Qargha Lake outside Kabul was frequented by Afghans relaxing with their families. (…) “There is no doubt that innocent Afghan civilians were the intended targets of this unspeakably brutal attack,” Allen said in a statement. “This is a crime against humanity because they targeted children, women and civilians picnicking at the lake,” said Gen. Mohammad Zahir, chief of the Kabul police investigation unit. “There wasn’t even a single soldier around there.” The insurgents arrived at the Spugmay in a minivan at around 11:30 p.m. Thursday — the start of the Afghan weekend — while the restaurant was full of guests, some smoking hookahs under pine trees on the lawn, others eating lamb kebabs on the rooftop terrace. In the parking lot, the gunmen shot the manager’s brother and security guards, then charged through the front door, past a sign that read “No guns allowed.” Sharif Aloko and 11 of his friends were sitting on the patio when the gunmen entered. One of them shot a father and his daughter while family members pleaded, “Please don’t kill us.” A gunman then killed another guest, grabbed his cellphone and made a call, Aloko recalled in an interview. “He said, ‘Hafiz, I am here. Pray for me to succeed. So far the security forces have not arrived.’ ” After ending the call, Aloko said, the attacker shouted at his men to preserve their bullets. One of the cooks said he jumped out the kitchen window and cowered behind a hedge the entire night. Other guests leapt into the lake, and one drowned as he tried to escape, according to Afghan officials. One man was fatally shot while smoking a cigarette, which was still in his fingers as he lay dead. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/taliban-insurgents-attack-kabul- hotel/2012/06/22/gJQAUVrWuV_story_1.html

Supporting international forces did use helicopters in fighting the insurgents. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18547415

Assassinations have increased in numbers in Afghanistan.

Though bombs continued to be the largest killer, there was a large jump in deaths from assassinations, particularly in the last few months. There were about four assassinations or executions of civilians a week in the first six months of 2009. That jumped to about seven per week in the first six months of this year, spiking in May and June to 18 per week. "These figures show that the Taliban are resorting to desperate measures, increasingly executing and assassinating civilians, including teachers, doctors, civil servants and tribal elders," said Rachel Reid, Afghanistan researcher for Human Rights Watch. "Targeting civilians violates the laws of war." http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/08/09/charity-plans-stay-afghanistan-despite-murders-aid-workers/

Also one man deported from Netherlands has been murdered in Kabul by the Taliban.

Thursday, February 24th, 2011 | Posted by Hazara People Failed asylum seeker killed in Afghanistan DutchNews | Wednesday 23 February 2011

Photo: Akhter

A 60-year-old Afghan man who was deported back to Afghanistan in 2006 after a five-year battle to stay in the Netherlands has been murdered in Kabul by the Taliban, the Telegraaf reports on Wednesday. The paper says the man was killed last September, but his death has only just been made public. Nezam Azimi was a known opponent of the Taliban but was refused permission to stay in the Netherlands by the then immigration minister Rita Verdonk. Current immigration minister Gerd Leers, then mayor of Maastricht, had written to Verdonk urging her to reconsider her decision, the paper says. Short URL: http://www.hazarapeople.com/?p=3615 http://www.hazarapeople.com/2011/02/24/failed-asylum-seeker-killed-in-afghanistan/

5) Illegal land occupation and confiscation with limited possibilities for redress; and 6) Religious and tribal conflicts, conflicts over the use of pasture land and inadequate responses by the central government to address violence and protect civilians Amnesty International informes that deportation is dangerous for Hazara. The risk is to severe to ignore.

Amnesty International is a global movement of over 3 million people committed to defending those who are denied justice or freedom.

It is difficult to decide if an attack on Hazaras is religiously or tribal motivated. There were insurgent’s attacks during Ashura and Ramazan. These attacks are probably religiously motivated, since they took place on holidays. Suicide blast hits near U.S. base in Kabul By Heidi Vogt and Rahim Faiez - The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday Nov 21, 2012 6:48:58 EST

(…) The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing in an email to reporters. The attack came as foreign and Afghan forces tightened their watch over the capital ahead of the holy day of Ashoura on Saturday, when Shiite Muslims commemorate the seventh century death of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson. Last year, the commemoration saw the country’s first major sectarian attack since the fall of the Taliban regime. In that strike, a suicide bomber on foot detonated his vest amid scores of worshippers at a Shiite shrine, killing at least 80 people. http://www.armytimes.com/news/2012/11/ap-suicide-blast-hits- near-us-base-in-afghanistan-112112/

KABUL, Afghanistan (Aug. 7, 2012) — The International Security Assistance Force joins the Afghan Ministry of the Interior in expressing condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed 38

and injured as a result of today's improvised explosive device (IED) attack in the Paghman District of Kabul Province. "The placement of this IED was clearly intended to indiscriminately murder innocent civilians during the holy month of Ramazan. This act clearly demonstrates the insurgents' lack of concern for the people of Afghanistan and their desire for peace and security for themselves, their families, and their nation," said Brig. Gen. Günter Katz, ISAF Spokesman. "I offer my prayers and condolences to the families of those killed and wounded in this tragic event."http://www.isaf.nato.int/article/isaf- releases/isaf-condemns-murderous-insurgent-attacks.html

Attacks on Hazara civilians have taken place in various areas in Kabul in 2010. Neither ANA nor police did help the Hazaras. Hazara’s problems also includes illegal land occupation and confiscation with limited possibilities for redress.

Saturday, August 14th, 2010 | Posted by Hazara People

Hazara International Forum strongly condemns targeted killings of Hazaras in Kabul, Afghanistan LONDON, August 14th, 2010: Hazara International Forum strongly condemns unprovoked assault on property and life of Hazaras in various areas of Kabul, Afghanistan. The unfortunate incident, happening on 13th August, 2010 in different areas of West Kabul, has engulfed lives of over 25 innocent Hazaras who fell victim to indiscriminate firing of the Pashtun cum Taliban Nomads in perpetual attack. The Pashtun Nomads were helped by Afghan National Army and the Local Police who neglected their professional responsibilities of protecting lives and property of citizens but spared no time in opening fire at people protesting against ferocious attack of the Pashtun Nomads. HIF is deeply saddened of irreparable loss of human lives and condoles with the aggrieved families. HIF Central Chairman, Agha Marzooq Ali has called an emergency meeting of the Central Committee on Sunday, (15-08-2010) at its headquarters to chalk out a pragmatic plan to take up this grievous issue with the UN, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and European Union. A delegation of Afghan Hazaras have also requested to meet the HIF Chairman and its members the same day to raise a concrete voice against brutalities and atrocities of the Pashtun Nomads who are being supported by the Taliban and local leaders to attack innocent Hazaras in Afghanistan. Liaquat Ali Hazara, Secretary, Press and Communication, Hazara International Forum HazaraNation.com http://www.hazarapeople.com/2010/08/14/hazara-international-forum-strongly-condemns-targeted-killings- of-hazaras-in-kabul-afghanistan/

The police did not protect Hazaras, but fired at them.

Afghan police shooting to kill ethnic minority in Kabul Police and Kuchi-Taliban attack Hazara demonstration Friday 13 August 2010, by Robert Maier

Breaking news from Kabul today informs us that a demonstration by men, women and children to call attention to the violence being perpetrated against the Hazara people turned bloody, with several shot to death, allegedly through indiscriminate firing into the crowd by Afghan police. The large Hazara community in West Kabul has been closed off by police. This is the latest in a string of anti-Hazara attacks that began earlier in the summer with Kuchi insurgents attacking Hazara in the traditional Hazara area of Bamiyan. Thousands of Hazara were forced to flee the area, their homes were looted, and many of those left behind were beaten or killed. http://kabulpress.org/my/spip.php?article22807

The attacks on Hazaras in 2010 are forgotten in 2011, when a suicide bombing is taking place.

Afghan President Karzai vows to confront Pakistani government over Kabul suicide bombing Amir Shah,Heidi Vogt, The Associated Press Dec 07, 2011 11:24:00 AM

A Pashtun suicide bomber on a motorbike hurt more than 35 persons, among them Hazaras, January 12th 2011.

Pashtun Suicide bomber kills civilians including Hazaras in Kabul

A wounded Hazara man rests in a hospital after a suicide bomb attack in Kabul January 12, 2011. A suicide bomber on a motorbike killed two people and wounded more than 35 near the Afghan parliament on Wednesday, officials said, the third bomb attack in the capital Kabul in less than a month. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood (AFGHANISTAN – Tags: CIVIL UNREST) http://www.hazarapeople.com/2011/01/13/pashtun-suicide-bomber-kills-civilians-including-hazara-in-kabul/

A clearly political attack at a Hazara leader has recently taken place. As Afghan forces took over the responsibility for the security, Taliban attempted to kill a Hazara MP. This must be regarded as significant for the coming situation for Hazaras in Afghanistan. Very few, if any, returned Hazara refugees have bodyguard.

Afghan forces take over security from NATO Tue, Jun 18, 2013 (…) "Our security and defence forces will now be in the lead," Karzai told Afghan and NATO officials at the ceremony, the timing and location of which had been kept secret due to fears of a militant attack. 40

"From here, all security responsibility and all security leadership will be taken by our brave forces," he said. Doubts remain over the ability of Afghan forces to beat the Taliban, and the NATO coalition will retain an important function in logistics and air support as well as in combat emergencies. (…) "The reality is Afghan forces are not dreadful, but they're probably not sufficiently capable to drive the war to a conclusion," said Stephen Biddle, professor of international affairs at George Washington University. "My guess is they will be able to maintain the stalemate, provided the US pays their bills," he told AFP. The Taliban have a proven ability to strike at Kabul as the country prepares for presidential elections next year and the NATO withdrawal. Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, a leader of the ethnic Hazara minority who is likely to play a key role in April's presidential vote, was unhurt in Tuesday's bomb attack but his clothes were burnt. "Four of my guards are wounded and are in hospital," he told AFP. "I heard a big explosion on the side of the car. Only my cloak is a little burned, other than that I'm fine." Mohammad Zahir, the police investigations chief in Kabul, told reporters at the scene that three civilians were killed and 24 others, including some guards, were wounded when the improvised explosive device detonated.(…) Concern over the Afghan forces' capacity have been fuelled by high rates of desertion and fears for the future of foreign aid post-2014. http://ph.news.yahoo.com/afghan-lawmaker-escapes-kabul-suicide-attack-055040574.html

More about the attempt for Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, the Hazara leader’s life.

News - Afghanistan Blast in Kabul as Karzai Announces Last Tranche of Transition (Update) Tuesday, 18 June 2013 10:07Last Updated on Tuesday, 18 June 2013 22:20Written by TOLOnews.com

A convoy of Afghan MP Mohammad Mohaqeq was struck by a roadside bomb this morning in Kabul city, killing at least three civilians and wounding 30 others, officials said.

Sources have confirmed to TOLOnews that Mr Mohaqeq has survived the attack but his six bodyguards were injured in the explosion. The 24 other injured are all civilians. The attack occured as the Afghan government and Nato held a ceremony in Kabul to announce the last tranche of security transition to Afghan forces, making the Afghan forces responsible for security of the whole country. The blast occurred at around 9 am in the Pol-e Sorkh area of Kabul city, near Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) building. The area is also a home for several international non- governmental organisations. “I saw three people falling down on the street and a woman with blood-soaked feet, the woman was helped by the police,” a witness told TOLOnews. The Head of Criminal Investigation Department of Kabul Police Gen. Zahir Zahir said, “The explosion occurred at 9 am. Three were killed and 30 including six bodyguards of the MP were injured.” The wounded have been taken to a nearby hospital. Hours after the explosion, Afghan MP, Haji Mohammad Mohaqeq warned that the Taliban and Al Qaida network still try to launch attacks on the political figures of Afghanistan. “Taliban and Al Qaida don’t know peace and stability, their language is terrorism and they want to harm Afghanistan’s leaders. I was in their hit-list and still I am, so this incident has happened,” Haji Mohammad Mohaqeq said.(…) TOLOnews journalist at the blast scene, Haseeb Maududi, said windows of many buildings in the area were shattered. TOLOnews footage shows body parts in the area and a police vehicle which is badly damaged (…). The Taliban group has vowed to intensify their attacks this summer. http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/10893-blast-in-kabul-as-karzai-announces-last-tranche-of-transition-update

Shias are not the only ones persecuted for their faith in Afghanistan. So are Ahmadiyya Muslims, and Christians.

Christians in Kabul A Christian convert, Sayyed Musa, who worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross/Red Crescent, was kept in Kabul Detention Center in the Governor’s Compound from November 2010. He was arrested after a TV program 24. of May showing Christian Afghans worshipping, and was released after diplomatic pressure in February.

Afghan Convert Musa Released; Another Christian Still in Prison Published: February 24, 2011 by damaris Quiet diplomacy wins freedom for convert facing possible death penalty. After intense diplomatic pressure last week, authorities released Afghan Christian Said Musa, who had been in prison for nearly nine months on charges of apostasy (leaving Islam), punishable by death under Islamic law. Another convert, however, remains in prison. (…) Musa had written a series of letters from his prison cell, the last one dated Feb. 13, according to Compass sources. In that letter Musa, an amputee and a father of six, said that representatives of embassies in Kabul visited him and offered him asylum. After the representatives left, according to the letter, Musa was taken to another room where three Afghan officials tried to convince him to recant his faith. They promised to release him from prison within 24 hours if he would do so. He refused and was sent back to his cell. “I told them I cannot [follow] Islam,” he wrote in his letter. “I am Jesus Christ’s servant. They pushed me much and much. I refused their demands.” Details of Musa’s release remained confidential in order to protect him and his family, who still remain in danger, sources said. (…) Authorities arrested Musa and other Christians after the country’s most popular broadcaster, Noorin TV, in May broadcast images of Afghani Christians worshiping. The broadcast appeared on an AfghanTV show called “Sarzanin-e-man,” or “My Homeland,” hosted by Nasto Nadiri, 27, an outspoken opponent of the government and a parliamentary hopeful. Noorin TV station is opposed to the government and does what it can to “embarrass” it, a source said. The broadcast put in motion the events that got Musa arrested, according to sources. The hour-long TV show sparked protests throughout the country against Christians and a heated debate in parliament. In early June, the deputy secretary of the Afghan Parliament, Abdul Sattar Khawasi, called for the execution of converts from Islam. During that time many converts to Christianity left the country, according to sources, and many were arrested, though the exact number is unknown. Musa was concerned about the public outcry against Christians and went to his employer, the International Committee of the Red Cross/Red Crescent, where he fitted patients for prosthetic limbs, to request personal leave the morning of May 31. Authorities arrested him after he left the building, and his family could not locate him for nearly two months. Before being transferred to Kabul Detention Center in the Governor’s Compound in November 2010, Musa had suffered sexual abuse, beatings, mockery and sleep deprivation because of his faith in Jesus in the first months of his detention. According to the U.S. Department of State, estimates of the size of the Christian community in Afghanistan range from 500 to 8,000.(…) http://www.idag.no/aktuelt- under.php3?StorySubCategoryID=113&offset=800

Church Aid of Norway and Church World Service of the United States were expelled after the same program.

Afghanistan suspends Christian groups after TV report Agence France-Presse, 31 May 2010 KABUL—The Afghan government said Monday it had suspended two Christian aid organisations after a TV show reported they were proselytising, which is illegal in the devoutly Islamic country. The organisations -- Church Aid of Norway and Church World Service of the United States -- were being investigated after Norrin TV reported that they had converted Afghan Muslims to Christianity, the economics ministry said. Converting from Islam to another religion is punishable by death under Afghan law.(…) 31 MAY 2010 CJPOTF FUSIONCELL REPORT.doc - FMT atmospherics 18 Jan https://ronna-afghan.harmonieweb.org/.../31%20MAY%202010%20CJPOTF%20FUSIONCELL%20REPORT.doc

More than 20 Christian converts were arrested in Afghanistan as some Afghan leaders of the National Assembly did call for their execution.

-Afghanistan: Christian Converts Arrested and Threatened with Execution by Dr. D ~ June 26th, 2010

This is a story that has escaped the American media. Over 20 Christian converts have been arrested in Afghanistan as some Afghan leaders of the National Assembly are calling for their execution. This is in response to a TV expose’ and the aftermath demands of thousand of Afghans. (...) Afghan broadcaster Noorin TV did a expose’ that showed men reciting Christian prayers in Farsi and being baptized. The TV commentators claimed that the men were Afghans who had converted to Christianity through the efforts of two Western aid groups, the Norwegian Church Aid and Church World Service of the United States. Afghan authorities have suspended the two groups pending an investigation. The TV program resulted in major protests all over Afghanistan in most major cities including the one shown above at Mazar-e-Sharif and also one at Kabul University. Apparently it is still a capital crime in Afghanistan to convert from Islam even though the Afghan government signed on to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which is suppose to protect an individual’s “freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice”. Nevertheless, the Afghan Constitution is based upon sharia law which strictly bans religious conversion under the penalty of death.http://answersforthefaith.com/2010/06/26/afghanistan-christian-converts- arrested-and-threatened-with-execution/

Hundreds of students joined street protests at Kabul University, shouting death threats and demanding the expulsion of foreigners.

Kill the Christians RELIGION | Lawmakers and protesters in Afghanistan are calling for just that | Mindy Belz

ASSOCIATED PRESS/PHOTO BY REZA SHIRMOHAMMADI (…) Hundreds of students joined street protests at Kabul University, shouting death threats and demanding the expulsion of foreigners. Demonstrations also spread from the capital to other cities, including Herat, Baghlan, and Mazar-e-Sharif. Two of the Afghan Christians who appeared in the broadcast were arrested and shown again on national television. The next day (May 31), the deputy secretary of the lower house of parliament, Abdul Sattar Khawasi, called from the parliament floor for the public execution of the Afghan converts. (…) (…)Waheed Omar, spokesman for President Hamid Karzai, announced on June 1 that the president had ordered steps to prevent further conversions to Christianity. (…) The problem also stems from the ambiguity in Afghanistan’s constitution, which was largely brokered with assistance from the United States in 2003-2004 (see “Dress rehearsal?” Jan. 17, 2004).(…) Under Islamic law, converts from Islam become guilty of apostasy, which is punishable by death. In 2006 a case surfaced against Abdul Rahman, an Afghan citizen who was arrested for converting to Christianity and threatened with the death penalty. Under heavy international pressure, including from the Vatican, officials released him and he was granted asylum in Italy. (…) The pressure for Karzai to deal forcibly with converts comes as he is seeking to lure Taliban leadership into peace talks with the government and wants to demonstrate his independence from NATO and U.S. leadership. 43

But as Sookhdeo of the Barnabas Fund points out, NATO and U.S. funds underwrite the Afghan government, and it is a signatory to UN standards: “It should be held accountable.” http://www.worldmag.com/webextra/16862 Copyright © 2010 WORLD Magazine Articles may not be reproduced without permission Published June 18, 2010

Afghan Christians plead for help as they are threatened with execution. The two Afghans who’s baptism were shown at TV, have been pressured return to Islam. President Hamid Karzai has ordered immediate and serious action to prevent any more conversions. A list of persons to be arrested was written. Homes were searched. Some Christians fled the country.

Afghan Christians Plead for Help as they are Exposed and Threatened with Execution

Published: Friday 18 June 2010 Country: AFGHANISTAN

Afghan Christians in exile are urging their fellow-Christians around the world to help stop the Afghan government from arresting and executing Afghan Christians. While international media and politicians are silent, within Afghanistan a dramatic anti-Christian furore has erupted, in which Afghan media and politicians alike are calling for the death of converts from Islam, in line with Islamic sharia law.

TV programme triggers anti-Christian frenzy (…)There have been numerous demonstrations since then in different cities throughout the country - Herat, Baghlan, Mazar-e Sharif and again in Kabul. Two of the Afghan Christians who appeared in the broadcast were arrested and shown again on national TV on 30 May, just three days after the first airing of the original broadcast. One was pressured on the TV show to return to Islam and the other was shown repeating the Islamic creed and asking forgiveness for having left Islam. The TV moderators urged viewers to find more Afghans who had left Islam and report them to the police. (…) On 1 June, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said that the president was taking a personal interest in the situation and had ordered immediate and serious action to prevent any more conversions. In the following days, many homes in Kabul were searched. Dozens of Afghan Christians fled their towns and some even left the country. On 5 June there was another debate in parliament. Interior Minister Hanif Atmar said that they had been investigating the issue of conversions for the last two years. He announced that the government had a list of 23 people, Afghans and foreigners, whom they were seeking to arrest. http://barnabasfund.org/Afghan-Christians-Plead-for-Help-as-they-are-Exposed-and-Threatened-with-Execution.html

7) UNHCR considers that Afghans should not be reasonably expected to travel through unsafe areas to reach their final destination Roads leading to Kabul are not safe.

2. of June 2013:  The FCO advise against all travel to the Surobi, Paghman, Musayhi, Khak-e Jabbar and Chahar Asyab Districts of Kabul province.  The FCO advise against all but essential travel to the city of Kabul. https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/afghanistan

They have not been safe for a while.

Travel Warning U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Bureau of Consular Affairs

Afghanistan August 13, 2010 (…)Travel in all areas of Afghanistan is unsafe due to military combat operations, landmines, banditry, armed rivalry between political and tribal groups, and the possibility of terrorist attacks, including attacks using vehicular or other improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The security environment remains volatile and unpredictable.(…) Incidents have occurred with some frequency on the Kabul-Jalalabad Road (commonly called Jalalabad Road) and Kabul to Bagram Road. As a result, these roads are highly restricted for Embassy employees and, if the security situation warrants, sometimes prohibited completely. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_2121.html

Rockets were fired at Kabul International Airport. Suicide bombers are likely to attack near Kabul airport, and the road from the airport to Kabul. “We advise against all but essential travel to Kabul City itself.” Further attacks are likely on the Airport road.

Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) The Afghanistan NGO Safety Offices (ANSO) issues regular security updates. In Kabul

 We advise against all travel to the Surobi, Paghman, Musayhi, Khak-e Jabbar and Chahar Asyab Districts of Kabul province.  We advise against all but essential travel to Kabul City itself and the remaining districts in the province.

There are regular, indiscriminate rocket and bomb attacks in the city and targeted attacks against NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) patrols and establishments. Reports continue to indicate that further attacks are likely, possibly by suicide bombers, against Western targets in central Kabul, along the Jalalabad Road, the Airport Road and the Wardak road and in the vicinity of Kabul airport. Hotels and other guest-houses where foreigners stay continue to be likely targets. There are specific threats against the major Ministry and Government buildings. There have been a number of indirect fire attacks against Kabul International Airport and further attacks cannot be ruled out. You should exercise extreme caution if you intend to use the Jalalabad and Airport roads and you should avoid travelling at night and between the hours of 07:00 and 09:00 if at all possible. Recent significant attacks include:

 On the afternoon of 10 August 2010, two insurgents attempted to force entry into a compound on Taimani Street 9 in Qal-e Fatullah – an area of Kabul City. The attempt was repelled by 45

local security guards, who shot one attacker dead, but the other managed to detonate a suicide vest. In the process, at least three Afghan nationals were killed or wounded.  At 0530hrs on 05 August 2010, a roadside bomb was detonated near to Karte Naw in Kabul City. It would appear that the device was remotely controlled and specifically targeting an ANP vehicle patrol - one policeman was wounded.  On the night of 19 July 2010, at least four rockets were fired at Kabul International Airport in two waves. They were ineffective and no casualties or damage was reported.  On the morning of 18 July 2010, Kabul City witnessed its first insurgent attack for exactly two months, when a body borne suicide bomber on a bicycle detonated near to an ISAF convoy on the road connecting the Jalalabad Road to the Airport Road, near to the ‘Russian Flats’ at Macrorayan. There were at reportedly eight deaths and many more civilian casualties.  On the night of 12 June 10, insurgents launched three rockets, which impacted on open ground near Kabul International Airport. The attack was ineffective and no casualties or damage was reported.  On 2 Jun 10, insurgents carried out an ineffective rocket attack against the assembled ‘Peace Jirga’ (at Kabul Polytechnic ,near Karte Parwan), followed by a thwarted attempt at an RPG attack and incursion on western perimeter.  On 29 May 10, on the north-eastern outskirts of the city, a suicide bomber detonated his IED upon jumping out of a truck cab on the Old Bagram Road. The ineffective attack was carried out near warehouses belonging to a company providing logistic support to ISAF.  On 22 May 2010, Afghan police reported that they had seized a major cache of nearly 300 rockets hidden on the outskirts of Kabul. These rockets were of a larger calibre (122mm) than usually launched in Kabul City, and therefore had a greater explosive capacity and range. It is assessed that these rockets would have been used in attacks on the city, including, potentially, the Peace Jirga.  On the morning of 18 May 2010, Kabul City witnessed its first major successful insurgent attack for two months, when a ¾ tonne car bomb detonated against an ISAF convoy on the Darulaman Road (near to the King’s Palace on the southern outskirts of the city). This appears to have been an opportunist attack. There were at least six ISAF and fifteen Afghan civilian deaths, and many more injuries.  On 21 March 2010, three rockets (assessed to be 107mm) were fired at Kabul International Airport. There was some damage to a parked civilian aircraft, but no casualties sustained.  On the morning of 06 March 2010, one rocket impacted in District 9.  On 26 January 2010, a suicide vehicle bomber attacked an ISAF foot patrol on the Jalalabad Road, in the vicinity of Camp Phoenix. This resulted in eight ISAF soldiers and eight civilians wounded, with damage to several civilian cars in the vicinity. No fatalities were reported apart from the occupant(s) of the vehicle bomb. http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel- advice-by-country/asia-oceania/afghanistan

Kabul City has witnessed a significant escalation in the number of suicide and rocket attacks in 2009. The attacks have not been sporadic as was believed then.

Foreign travel adviceAfghanistan Kabul City has witnessed a significant escalation in the number of suicide and rocket attacks in the last year. Since late August 2009, there have been fourteen successful suicide attacks in the City, with at least five further suicide attacks known to have been thwarted. Of these fourteen attacks, eight have been directed against ISAF (including an attack on their main headquarters in Shash Darak). The remainder of attacks have been conducted against a variety of targets including: an Embassy (Indian); the UN (a guesthouse); an international hotel (the Heetal); an international guesthouse (Noor); a private security company compound; and a large complex attack against multiple ministries on 18 January 2010. Not only has the frequency of attack increased, but also the audacity and scale. It remains likely that insurgent commanders will continue to attempt to carry out sporadic attacks inside Kabul City.http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/asia- oceania/afghanistan

Kabul has been more or less surrounded by Taliban since 2008. In the capital Taliban kidnap Afghans and foreigners, and make various bomb attacks and assassinations, now as it was done in 2008. The capital was insecure then, and is more insecure now.

Q11117 - Afghanistan - Researched and compiled by the Refugee Documentation Centre of Ireland on 22 October 2009 Reports about the current security situation in Kabul. In a section titled “The Taliban is back” an International Council on Security and Development report states:

“Of the four doors leading out of Kabul, three are now compromised by Taliban activity. The roads to the west, towards the Afghan National Ring Road through Wardak to Kandahar have become unsafe for Afghan or international travel by the time travellers reach the entrance to Wardak province, which is about thirty minutes from the city limits. The road south to Logar is no longer safe for Afghan or international travel. The road east to Jalalabad is not safe for Afghan or international travel once travellers reach the Sarobi Junction which is about an hour outside of the city. Of the two roads leaving the city to the north only one – the road towards the Panjshir valley, Salang tunnel and Mazar – is considered safe for Afghan and international travel. The second road towards the north which leads to the Bagram Air Base is frequently used by foreign and military convoys and subject to insurgent attacks. By blocking the doors to the city in this way, the Taliban insurgents are closing a noose around the city and establishing bases close to the city from which to launch attacks inside it. Using these bases, the Taliban and insurgent attacks in Kabul have increased dramatically – including kidnapping of Afghans and foreigners, various bomb attacks and assassinations.” (International Council on Security and Development (December 2008) Struggle for Kabul: The Taliban Advance, p.5) http://www.icosgroup.net/static/reports/Struggle_for_Kabul_ICOS.pdf

8) Final questions The Security Council did not dare to go to Kabul in October 2012.

2nd of June 2013:  The FCO advise against all travel to the Surobi, Paghman, Musayhi, Khak-e Jabbar and Chahar Asyab Districts of Kabul province. The FCO advise against all but essential travel to the city of Kabul. https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel- advice/afghanistan

Deported refugees are not likely to be able to follow this travel advice:

Take out comprehensive travel and medical insurance before you travel. https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/afghanistan

Several attacks have taken place in Kabul in 2013. Especially the attack at IOM is important when the safety of returned failed asylum seekers is to be considered. Attacks on governmental buildings and also NGOs also damage civilian lives. When it comes to Hazaras, the attack at the Hazara leader and MP Mohaqiq 18th of June 2013, the very same day Afghan soldiers took over the responsibility for the security in the country, makes one worry.

It is expected that international society will not allow that refugees are sent back to the war they escaped from. The situation in Kabul now is worse than when they run away from Afghanistan.

European states and Australia must not be allowed to continue risking refugees’ life by sending them to Kabul. It is documented that at least 12 failed asylum seekers have been killed in this town.

The asylum seeker we sent home to his death March 17, 2013

“He was worried. He knew the Taliban would kill him but the government refused him,” said his friend, Salem Haideri. Mr Gul’s death late last year made front-page news in Afghanistan. “A famous leader has been killed innocently, in cold blood by the the anti-Islamic forces,” said the Governor of Maidan Wardak province, Mohammed Halim Fedaie. The killing of Mr Gul and another asylum seeker, Mohammed Hussain, have prompted renewed calls for Afghans denied refugee status under the former government to have their cases reopened. The Age last week revealed four rejected asylum seekers from Afghanistan who travelled on the Tampa have now been found to be genuine refugees, after they risked a second boat trip with people smugglers. One of the men, Asmatullah Mohammadi, said 11 asylum seekers on Nauru had been killed by the Taliban after they were sent back to Afghanistan. The director of social justice agency the Edmund Rice Centre, Phil Glendenning, who spent six years travelling the world to investigate the fate of rejected asylum seekers, said he believed 11 deaths was a conservative figure. Mr Glendenning has called on Immigration Minister Chris Evans to reopen the cases of rejected Afghan asylum seekers.

Thursday, February 24th, 2011 | Posted by Hazara People Failed asylum seeker killed in Afghanistan DutchNews | Wednesday 23 February 2011

Photo: Akhter

There are probably other rejected asylum seekers that have been assassinated. Norwegian authorities do not follow up the persons they have deported. Information about such assassinations is not likely to reach international press if there are no relatives or friends that dares to inform about it, if indeed they have connections to journalists.

In May 2013 the returned failed asylum seekers’ shelter, IOM, was attacked. 49

(Reuters) - Taliban militants launched a large-scale attack involving the United Nations in the center of the Afghan capital Kabul on Friday, sparking a five-hour battle with security forces. A plume of smoke hung over Kabul after the attack was launched, with the sound of .50 caliber heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and sniper fire clearly audible throughout the city center as night fell. An Afghan police officer was killed and 10 other people were wounded during the attack, which began at 4 p.m. (1130 GMT) with a suicide car bomb outside a compound used by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Afghan police said. (Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau in New York; Writing by Dylan Welch; Editing by Kevin Liffey) http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/5/24/worldupdates/taliban-attack-un-compound-in- afghan-capital-police&sec=Worldupdates

18th of June 2013, when Afghan forces took over responsibility for safety in the country, there was a blast near other NGOs and Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) building.

News - Afghanistan Blast in Kabul as Karzai Announces Last Tranche of Transition (Update) Tuesday, 18 June 2013 10:07Last Updated on Tuesday, 18 June 2013 22:20Written by TOLOnews.com

And the attacks shall be intensified this summer.

How long will these NGOs dear to stay? How much can they contribute to the Afghan’s welfare, when their own lives might be at stake? These issues concern safety. Should the humanitarian situation in the land of origination also been taken into account in asylum cases?

It is summer right now, but last winter, more than 100 children died in the cold weather in the numerous refugee camps that surround the Afghan capital.

Afghan children suffer from the harsh winter UNHCR in the news According to the UN Refugee Agency, there are some 460,000 internally displaced people in Afghanistan. Nearly 35,000 of them live in 54 camps in the Kabul area. Douglas Di Salvo, Protection Officer at UNHCR, told the BBC that the country continues to be challenged by conflict, poverty and lack of development. Di Salvo said that the most vulnerable Afghan citizens live on the edge of survival. Their lives are threatened by lack of heating and food.

12.01.2013, 02:47 BBC News.co.uk 0 Add to favorites Afghan children succumb to harsh winter weather

For nearly a week Taj Mohammad has not had time to grieve for his three-year-old son. Janan had tottered out of the mud shelter when Mr Mohammad had gone in search of firewood, his daily routine for the past five winters. The toddler was barefoot and did not have enough clothing for the freezing temperatures outside. "When Janan returned, he had a high fever. We tried to keep him warm with whatever little clothes we have. But he died in the evening," Mr Mohammad said. Janan was among about 10,000 displaced people, mostly from Helmand province, who live at the Qambar refugee camp on the outskirts of Kabul. Last winter, more than 100 children died in the cold weather in the numerous refugee camps that surround the Afghan capital. Twenty-six of them died in the same camp where Janan lived.(…) According to the UN refugee agency, there are 460,000 internally displaced people in the country. Nearly 35,000 of these are in 54 camps in the Kabul area. The UN accepts there are problems in getting aid to those most in need. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Protection Officer Douglas Di Salvo told the BBC that the country continues to be challenged by conflict, poverty and lack of development. He said that the most vulnerable Afghan citizens are living on the edge of survival - their lives threatened by a lack of heating and food. Mr Mohammad and his family are now trying to come to terms with this harsh reality. But it is a difficult and painful struggle. Recently the people of Camp Qambar had to endure another tragedy - a four-year-old girl named Sabeah from Helmand province died as the cold weather bit. She was the second child to die in the space of a week. "We are relying on God and good luck to survive this winter," Mr Mohammad said ruefully. Resources: Afghan children succumb to harsh winter weather http://unity.lv/en/news/792855/ A letter from UNHCR dated 3rd. of April 2012 claims that internal flight in Kabul is neither a relevant nor reasonable alternative for Afghan refugees. It will probably contradict with Article 3.

The letter is following in full on the next pages.

Articles concerning the Security Situation in Kabul 2009

Coordinated Taliban attacks kill at least 26 in Kabul

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Publication Date 11 February 2009

Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Coordinated Taliban attacks kill at least 26 in Kabul, 11 February 2009, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/499e98d6c.html [accessed 3 June 2013] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Last updated: 11.02.2009 17:01

Afghan commandos try to enter the Justice Ministry building, which was attacked by militants in Kabul. KABUL – Near-simultaneous suicide attacks targeting civilians and government personnel in the Afghan capital, Kabul, have left at least 26 dead and 55 wounded. Eight suicide bombers are believed to have died while carrying out the midmorning attacks, for which the Taliban has claimed responsibility. The incidents came one day ahead of a visit by the United States' special envoy to Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke. The most high-profile of the attacks occurred when several armed militants wearing explosive belts stormed the Afghan Justice Ministry, situated next to the presidential compound in the center of Kabul. RFE/RL Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent Hamid Mohmand reports from the Afghan capital that one attacker blew himself up moments after entering the building, killing and injuring many ministry personnel and visitors. Two additional attackers are believed to have been killed following a nearly two-hour gun battle with security forces. At least one police officer and an intelligence officer died in the shootout, according to the Afghan Interior Ministry. The Interior Ministry has said that one attacker has been arrested after being discovered hiding inside the Justice Ministry building. The attacker was reportedly wearing a belt of explosives. "The attackers were holding guns. One of them was on the third floor and the other one was on the second floor. They were firing into the offices," Afghan Justice Ministry employee Gul Hamid told RFE/RL. "I saw that they killed one person on the second floor. They were still firing. I managed to escape from the back of the building."

'We Did Have Information' National Security Directorate chief Amarullah Salih, asked about the state of readiness of security forces, acknowledged to journalists that his office had received "generic" information indicating that attacks might take place.

The body of a suspected terrorist lies on the ground inside the Justice Ministry in Kabul. "We did have information, but it was not actionable," Salih said. "It was of a generic nature, suggesting that there will be an attack, a spectacular one, in Kabul involving multiple suicide bombers. Salih said additional security measures are being adopted, adding: "It is not that we are only active after it happens." He said intelligence indicates the attacks may have been planned from outside the country. "As they were entering the Ministry of Justice and before starting their indiscriminate killing of the civilians there, they sent three messages to Pakistan calling for the blessing of their mastermind," Salih said. "We are working on that angle of it, as well." Salih said 21 suspects have been detained for questioning. In calls made to Afghan and international media, self-described Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid accepted responsibility for the attacks. Another attack took place in front of the Khorasan hotel in the north of the capital and apparently targeted a passing convoy of Western troops, likely resulting in high casualties. "Officials confirmed that it was a suicide bombing. And it has killed many people but nobody has the exact figures of those killed," Radio Free Afghanistan's Hamid Mohmand reports. "Officials are only saying that it caused many casualties. A third group of suicide bombers who were trying to enter the Education Ministry building in central Kabul were confronted by the police and were killed before entering that building."

Afghan police inspect a car that was damaged during one of the suicide attacks in Kabul. Seven years after being forced out of power, the resurgent Taliban have carried out a number of high-profile, and increasingly lethal, attacks in Afghan cities in recent months. National Security Directorate chief Salih said more such attacks can be expected. "Our analysis of the situation is that the enemy will not try to launch frontal attacks against us. They have totally lost or they have never gained that capability to challenge us on the front lines," Salih said. "So, their strategy revolves around attacking soft targets and, preferably, in the large cities of Afghanistan." To prevent them, Salih added: "We have to be successful, round the clock, seven days a week [and] 365 days a year. And they need to be successful once. That is the difference." Copyright notice: Copyright (c) 2007-2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036 http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=printdoc&docid=499e98d6c

AFGHANISTAN: Growing insecurity in Kabul “The current insecurity trend is dissimilar to the 1990s, but it has the potential to get worse and push the capital back to the old dark age,” It was almost midnight when a massive bang awakened residents of Kabul’s fifth district on 5 September. A rocket had landed on a house killing three members of the family: the father, mother and a child.

Mir Aziz, his wife and their daughter died when a rocket landed on their house in Kabul on 5 September (Photo: Roshan/IRIN)

In the past month at least 10 rockets have been fired on different parts of Kabul, often killing or wounding civilians, according to the Ministry of Interior (MoI). In less than a month, well over a dozen civilians have also died in a number of suicide attacks in Kabul: on 8 September a suicide attack near the airport killed two civilians and wounded six; on 18 August a suicide attack killed 10 (including two UN national staff) and injured 50; and a suicide attack in front of the NATO premises in Kabul on 15 August killed nine and wounded 90, most of them civilians. “Whoever is firing these rockets and organizing suicide attacks is only killing innocent civilians,” said a man whose house sustained damage because of a rocket attack on 5 September. A woman who lost her husband in the 18 August suicide attack said her family was devastated by the loss. “My husband was only a taxi driver. Who will feed my children now; who will pay for their clothes; who will pay for their medicine; who will pay for their education?” she asked. “Indeed, terrorist attacks have increased recently, which is worrying Kabul citizens because the enemy wants to exert psychological pressure on the people,” Zemarai Bashari, MoI’s spokesman, told IRIN. Taliban insurgents have often claimed responsibility for the attacks through their purported spokesmen. However, it is unclear where the insurgents get their weapons and how their fighters and suicide bombers penetrate the capital. Home to an estimated four million people and thousands of international military and diplomatic personnel and aid workers, Kabul has seen an increasing number of security measures being put in place - from blast resistant walls to road blocks to heavily armed patrols and the deployment of private security contractors.

Organized crime Some analysts are linking organized crime, corruption and illegal militia groups to the latest spate of attacks in the capital. “The old subversive groups who were shelling Kabul and terrorizing civilians in the past have been reactivated,” said Noorullah Stanikzai, a lecturer at Kabul University. “There are criminal elements that add fuel to the insurgency-related insecurity,” Wadeer Safi, a law professor and political analyst, told IRIN. Armed criminal gangs are not only blamed for abductions, assassinations and extortion, but are believed to be smuggling arms, explosives and supplying intelligence to the insurgents, experts say. “Some criminal activities such as drug smuggling and high-profile kidnappings have financial and political linkages with the insurgency,” said MoI’s Bashari.

History repeating itself? “People are increasingly worried about their security not only in Kabul but throughout the country,” said Ahmad Zaki, a Kabul resident. “If insecurity increases people will be forced to migrate abroad again,” said Stanikzai. “No one wants to live in a city with constant fear of death in [the form of] a blind rocket or explosion,” said political analyst Safi. Whilst Afghan and international officials categorically blame the insurgents for the violence, a BBC/ ABC/ ARD poll in February 2009 showed 27 percent of Afghans blame the Taliban for the violence in their country, while 12 percent blame US forces, and 12 percent blame the government. “The current insecurity trend is dissimilar to the 1990s, but it has the potential to get worse and push the capital back to the old dark age,” said Safi. “We’re doing our best to improve security: We have increased the police force in Kabul from 7,000 to over 11,000,” said Bashari. Todd Vician, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul, told IRIN ISAF was concerned about the safety of Kabul citizens, and that it has been working hard to enhance the capability of the Afghan national security forces. Category: Children, HR Violations - Views: 3662 http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2009/09/09/afghanistan-growing-insecurity-in-kabul.html

BBC News Page last updated at 17:15 GMT, Tuesday, 18 August 2009 18:15 UK

The suspected car bomb attack took place on a busy road A suicide car bomber has killed 10 people in an attack on a convoy of Western troops in the Afghan capital. More than 50 people were wounded in the explosion, which came despite heightened security ahead of Thursday's presidential election. A Nato soldier and nine Afghans, including two UN staff, died in the explosion, the Nato-led force said. Militants have threatened to disrupt the vote, in which Hamid Karzai is tipped to be re-elected president. However, correspondents say he is facing a strong challenge from ex-Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah. Several dozen candidates are in the race. In other violence on Tuesday: ANALYSIS • A rocket was fired into the presidential compound in the capital, Kabul; no-one was reported injured Hugh Sykes, BBC News, Kabul • Two US soldiers died in a roadside bomb in the east of the country • Two civilians and three Afghan soldiers died when a suicide The suicide car bomb went off at bomber on foot blew himself up in southern Uruzgan province, about 1pm on the main road out of police said Kabul to Jalalabad. • In the usually peaceful north, an election candidate was shot dead It's also the route to the sprawling in Jowzjan province, and three poll workers were killed in Bagram international military base. Badakhshan when their car hit a bomb The road is often used to transport members of the In a statement, President Karzai said such attacks would not deter International Security and Assistance Force in Afghans, who would vote "despite the efforts of the enemies and will Afghanistan, and it is believed they were the show their opposition to their barbaric acts", reports Reuters news intended target. agency. The bomb was heard in the neighbourhood and sent up a huge plume of black smoke, said Body parts witnesses, but Kabul's busy daily routine was barely But meanwhile, Afghanistan's foreign ministry urged the media affected. not to cover any violence on election day, saying such reports could scare voters away."This decision will control the negative impact of the media. If something happens, this will prevent them from exaggerating it, so that people will not be frightened to come out and vote," Siamak Herawi, a spokesman for President Karzai, told Reuters. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Kabul suicide blast, which targeted a convoy of foreign troops near a bustling market on the I was inside my shop and then it collapsed on me, so I busy Jalalabad road. walked away, there were a lot of dead bodies Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said in a statement: "Updated reports indicate those killed were one Isaf Jawed Ahmad Kabul shopkeeper service member, seven Afghan civilians and two Afghan civilian employees of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan." Afghan election fraud is unearthed An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw British soldiers, who In pictures: Kabul car bomb were securing the site, collecting what appeared to be body parts Q&A: Afghan election from the roof of an Afghan home. "I was inside my shop and then it collapsed on me, so I walked away. There were a lot of dead bodies," shopkeeper Jawed Ahmad said. The latest violence comes as a BBC investigation found thousands of voting cards have been up for sale and thousands of dollars have been offered in bribes to buy votes. The Afghan Independent Election Commission, which is overseeing the ballot, denied voting cards were being sold, saying they could only be used by their rightful owners. Thursday's vote will be Afghanistan's second presidential election since the US-led invasion in 2001 toppled the Taliban regime. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8207301.stm

BBC News Page last updated at 19:53 GMT, Thursday, 17 September 2009 20:53 UK

Aftermath of the bomb blast in Kabul Six Italian soldiers have been killed in a bomb attack on a military convoy in the Afghan capital, Kabul. Two military vehicles were reported to have been hit by a suicide car bomb. At least 10 civilians were also killed and dozens injured, officials said. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack in the city centre. Following the blast, Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi said it would be best for international troops to leave Afghanistan "as soon as possible". But he added it was a decision Italy would have to take in agreement with other Nato partners. The latest deaths come as Afghan President Hamid Karzai reaffirmed his belief in last month's presidential election which is mired in allegations of widespread fraud.

Deadly attack Witnesses say an explosives-laden vehicle rammed into the Italian military convoy on Kabul's busy airport road. "It was a suicide car bomb attack... It was against Italian forces," Kabul's chief of criminal investigations told the AFP news agency. At least four Italian soldiers are also said to have been seriously wounded. ATTACKS ON FOREIGN TROOPS Eyewitnesses said the explosion shook buildings and that a plume of black smoke hung over the area where it occurred. Sept 09: Six Italians killed, four wounded after Student Jamal Nasir was in his car when the bomber struck and described an attack on Kabul convoy almost deafening blast. "I could see thick black smoke behind us... There were screams and car horns. Aug 08: Ten French soldiers killed in ambush east of People were running over each other and in the panic cars were driving on Kabul pedestrian lanes," he told the BBC. The blast caused considerable destruction in the immediate vicinity, with a July 08: Nine US soldiers killed in an attack in Kunar number of shops badly damaged. Witnesses described blood-stained roads and twisted metal littering the area. June 08: Four British soldiers killed by a landmine in Television footage of the blast site showed the Italian flag on Isaf armoured Helmand vehicles, one of which was destroyed.

Mr Berlusconi spoke to reporters about the attack as he arrived for an EU July 07: Six Canadian soldiers and their Afghan summit in Brussels. translator killed by roadside bomb in Kandahar "This is an unhappy day for Italy," he said. "We are all convinced that we have to get out of Afghanistan as soon as possible." June 05: Sixteen US special forces and crew killed But he quickly added: "This is something that we cannot decide alone, when helicopter shot down in Kunar because otherwise we would affect the confidence of other countries present there."

Fierce insurgency In pictures: Kabul convoy attack There have been several bomb attacks in Kabul this year. Karzai defends vote 'integrity' Shortly before nationwide elections in August, Nato's Kabul headquarters was hit by a suicide car bomb attack which killed at least 10 people. Italian soldier deaths stir unease But this is thought to be one of the deadliest attacks on foreign troops in recent months. On Wednesday, three US troops were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan. There are about 3,200 Italian troops in Afghanistan, mostly in the west of the country. Around 20 Italian soldiers have died in Afghanistan. US and Nato-led forces across Afghanistan are battling a fierce Taliban insurgency. In recent months the US has poured more forces into the Taliban's heartland in the south of the country. And on Wednesday, the top US military officer, chairman At least 10 Afghan of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm Mike Mullen, told the US Senate that yet more troops might civilians are said to have be required in Afghanistan. The year 2009 has been the deadliest for foreign troops been killed. in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8260419.stm

BBC news Page last updated at 14:38 GMT, Thursday, 8 October 2009 15:38 UK

'Cleaners killed' The latest blast hit at 0827 local time (0353 GMT), as residents were arriving to work. India's Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said the suicide bomber "came AT THE SCENE up to the outside wall of the embassy with a car loaded with explosives". Martin Patience, BBC News, Kabul Television pictures showed charred vehicles at the site and ambulances speeding to the location. The morning rush hour was brought to an instant halt as a car-bomb ripped through An eyewitness, Habib Jan, told the BBC the victims were civilians. the city. "A [Toyota] Corolla car was parked in front of the Indian embassy. It "I heard a gigantic explosion," Mohammed was rush hour, about 10 minutes after I arrived at the office when we Naim, a local painter who runs a gallery, told the BBC. heard an explosion. "Everything in my shop fell down on me. When I got out onto the street, I saw dead bodies and injured people all around me. "There were lots of workers cleaning the street - most of them have It was horrific." been killed." The insurgents appear to be sending a clear message - we can strike anywhere in Afghanistan. Regional links Read Martin's report in full Nirupama Rao told reporters that she believed the suicide bomb was directed against the Indian embassy. In July 2008 a suicide bomber rammed a car full of explosives into the gates of the embassy, killing dozens of people and injuring more than 140. India has a strong relationship with Afghanistan, building and managing DEADLY KABUL ATTACKS infrastructure projects in what analysts say is a concerted effort to Sept 2009: Suicide bomber kills two civilians at the main airport Aug 2009: Suicide car bomber kills 10 people in an attack on a minimise Pakistani influence in the country. convoy of Western troops. Analysts say the strength of India's relationship with Kabul has made it Aug 2009: Suicide bomb outside Nato headquarters kills seven a key target for the country's Taliban militants, who have historic links people Feb 2009: Suicide attackers kill 19 people in three government with Pakistan. Afghan officials linked last year's bombing to an "active intelligence buildings Jul 2008: Suicide car bomber kills more than 50 at Indian service" - thought to be Pakistan. embassy Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in an online statement that Thursday's attacker was an Afghan man who blew up his vehicle In pictures: Kabul blast outside the embassy. The Afghan Interior Ministry said 17 people had died and 63 had been India: Influential Afghan ally wounded in the latest attack. Fifteen of the dead were Afghan civilians and one was an Afghan police officer. The BBC's Martin Patience, in Kabul, says there appears to be a lot of damage at the scene - now sealed off - and that municipal workers have moved into the area with brooms to begin a clean-up.

Growing threat This is thought to be the fourth bomb attack in Kabul since August. Until the summer, the Afghan capital was regarded as relatively secure, but that is changing, our correspondent says.

Insurgents are increasingly targeting the capital because of the publicity it attracts. Militants seem to be able to attack at will in what should be one of the most secure areas of the country, our correspondent adds. Edrees Kakar, an office worker and freelance journalist, who heard the latest explosion, told the BBC: "These bomb attacks are happening so frequently that people no longer feel safe. "People are leaving their homes less and less. We are frustrated and feel we are not getting sufficient help from the international community."http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8296137.stm

Foreign travel advice Afghanistan Kabul City has witnessed a significant escalation in the number of suicide and rocket attacks in the last year. Since late August 2009, there have been fourteen successful suicide attacks in the City, with at least five further suicide attacks known to have been thwarted. Of these fourteen attacks, eight have been directed against ISAF (including an attack on their main headquarters in Shash Darak). The remainder of attacks have been conducted against a variety of targets including: an Embassy (Indian); the UN (a guesthouse); an international hotel (the Heetal); an international guesthouse (Noor); a private security company compound; and a large complex attack against multiple ministries on 18 January 2010. Not only has the frequency of attack increased, but also the audacity and scale. It remains likely that insurgent commanders will continue to attempt to carry out sporadic attacks inside Kabul City.http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice- by-country/asia-oceania/afghanistan

UNHCR, Kabul 2009 Q11117 - Afghanistan - Researched and compiled by the Refugee Documentation Centre of Ireland on 22 October 2009 Reports about the current security situation in Kabul. In a section titled “The Taliban is back” an International Council on Security and Development report states:

In a section titled “Political developments and elections” (paragraph 16) a UN General Assembly Security Council report states:

“The intensity of insurgency operations increased in the week before the election. On 15 August, a vehicle-borne suicide bomb exploded near the International Security Assistance Force base in Kabul City, killing at least seven people and wounding another 70. Another vehicle-borne suicide bomber careened into an international military convoy on 18 August, killing two International Security Assistance Force soldiers and seven civilians, and injuring at least another 50. Two UNAMA national staff members who were nearby were killed in the attack and one was wounded. These incidents were the first suicide attacks to occur in Kabul City since March 2009.” (UN General Assembly Security Council (22 September 2009) The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security, p.4)

References: BBC News (7 September 2009) 'Three die' in Kabul rocket blast http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asi a/8241013.stm (Accessed 21 October 2009) BBC News (18 August 2009) Deadly pre-poll attack hits Kabul http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asi a/8207301.stm?ad=1 (Accessed 22 October 2009) The Guardian (8 October 2009) Deadly Kabul bomb targets Indian embassy http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/08/kabul-bomb-indian-embassy/print (Accessed 22 October 2009) International Council on Security and Development (December 2008) Struggle for Kabul: The Taliban Advance http://www.icosgroup.net/documents/Struggle_for_Kabul_ICOS.pdf (Accessed 21 October 2009) 67

IRIN News (9 September 2009) Afghanistan: Growing insecurity in Kabul http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=86069 (Accessed 21 October 2009) Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (11 February 2009) Coordinated Taliban Attacks Kill At Least 26 In Kabul http://www.rferl.org/articleprintview/1491341.html (Accessed 21 October 2009) UN General Assembly Security Council (22 September 2009) The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/4ac0c0d22.pdf (Accessed 21 October 2009) Voice of America (18 August 2009) Taliban Escalate Attacks on Kabul Two Days Before Presidential Election http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2009-08/2009-08-18- voa7.cfm?CFID=272756182&CFTOKEN=52688271&jsessionid=00308e0de257f 89d38d878229623f5e7b416 (Accessed 22 October 2009) This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Refugee Documentation Centre within time constraints. This response is not and does not purport to be conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please read in full all documents referred to. Sources Consulted: Amnesty International BBC News Electronic Immigration Network Human Rights Watch International Council on Security and Development United Kingdom Home Office UNHCR Refworld

Ireland: Refugee Documentation Centre, Afghanistan: Reports about the current security situation in Kabul, 22 October 2009, Q11117, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4aee9d8f0.html [accessed 7 August 2010]

Articles concerning the Security Situation in Kabul 2010

Attack in Kabul Una Moore - January 19, 2010 - 2:05 pm

US girds for more violence in Kabul Shifting troops could imperil military progress

By Bryan Bender

Globe Staff / March 26, 2010

WASHINGTON — Insurgents are preparing a campaign of suicide bombings and other high-profile attacks in the bustling but poorly protected Afghan capital of Kabul this summer, posing a new threat to the fragile Afghan government and the recent military gains of the American-led counterinsurgency, according to several US officials and advisers briefed on recent intelligence reports. The prospect of an Iraq-style spate of bombings in Afghanistan’s most populous city, which so far has been spared much of the violence, could draw forces away from the main effort to beat back the Taliban in the south of the country, where most US reinforcements have been dispatched this year, the officials said. The warnings are prompting commanders to step up intelligence-gathering efforts on possible sanctuaries in both Afghanistan and Pakistan to monitor the supply lines for moving bombers and explosives into the capital, though the officials said they fear the Afghan government and its coalition partners are ill-prepared. One top US defense official, who spoke on the condition he not be named when discussing sensitive security matters, described new “intelligence streams’’ that are pointing to one particular insurgent group allied with both the Taliban and Al Qaeda: the Haqqani Network, which operates out of Pakistan and has already been tied to a series of high-profile attacks, including a citywide assault in Kabul earlier this year using foreign recruits wielding small arms and an ambulance rigged with explosives. “There is a real, serious danger that they will try to escalate these spectacular attacks,’’ said Max Boot, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who has advised the top US commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley A. McChrystal. “I think it would undermine confidence in the [Afghan] government. The Afghan government has to do a lot more to harden Kabul like what was done in Baghdad.’’ Kabul, with an estimated 3 million people, is defended mostly by Afghan security forces and a small contingent of Italian, Spanish, and other NATO troops and is considered a “soft target’’ due to minimal fortifications around key government buildings and a limited network of checkpoints along approaches to the city. Still, to date it has enjoyed relative security as the Taliban insurgency has gained strength in the south and east of the country. According to the Afghanistan Index, compiled by the nonpartisan Brookings Institution in Washington, there were 26 attempted attacks using improvised explosives in Kabul last year, compared with 636 in the eastern part of the country and 480 in the south. Still, the number of attempted attacks in Kabul more than doubled. And although some officials doubt that insurgents could inflict anywhere near the level of violence in 2006 that seized Baghdad, which 70

suffered thousands of casualties from suicide bombings attributed to the group Al Qaeda in Iraq, the destructive power of the bombings in Afghanistan is on the rise Page 2 of 2 – Lieutenant General Michael Oates, who oversees US efforts to combat so-called “improvised explosive devices,’’ testified to a House committee last week that the lethality of attacks in Afghanistan has increased 50 percent over the past three years, including the size of the explosives. Specialists believe Kabul is already becoming a more appealing target for the Haqqani Network, so named for its leader, Jalaluddin Haqqani, and considered one of the most sophisticated of Afghanistan’s insurgent groups. The group dates to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s and has strong links with the Al Qaeda terrorist leadership and its pool of young foreign recruits. From its radical religious schools and training camps in North Waziristan in Pakistan’s lawless tribal region it has recruited Afghans, Pakistanis, Arabs, and others to carry out a series of attacks in the past two years, including the simultaneous bombings of government buildings in the city of Khost, a suicide attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul, and an attempt to bomb the motorcade of the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai. The group has extended its reach to more Afghan provinces, including those adjacent to Kabul. “The network is responsible for conducting spectacular attacks within the provinces of Khost, Paktia, Paktika, Logar, Kabul, and increasingly in areas like Nangarhar, and Kunar,’’ said Matthew Dupee, an Afghan security specialist at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. “This puts Kabul directly in the cross-hairs.’’ It also appears to have an “ample supply of willing suicide bombers and tactically dedicated fighters,’’ he added, and is believed to receive help in planning attacks from corrupt officials inside the Afghan Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for police forces, as well as the Ministry of Defense. In recent months Afghan Army personnel have been indicted for having connections to the militant group. The United States has stepped up operations against the group; in late February, a suspected US drone strike reportedly killed Muhammad Haqqani, the son of the group’s founder, in Pakistan. But with the bulk of US and Afghan forces targeting Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan, it remains capable of operating relatively freely in large swaths of Afghanistan, according to a recent research paper published by the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank. Military and intelligence officials and outside specialists say a stepped-up campaign in Kabul could have a variety of consequences. It would draw scarce resources away from the primary focus on insurgents elsewhere in the country, including Khandahar, Afghanistan’s second-largest city and the traditional homeland of the Taliban. US forces say they will launch a major offensive there in the coming months. The attempt could also backfire on the militants, however, by alienating the Afghan people and further increasing support for the government and US-led military forces. “Suicide bombing kills huge numbers of civilians. The greatest risk to them is that they will destroy any public support they might have had,’’ said Stephen Biddle, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who also advises McChrystal on military strategy. Biddle and others believe insurgents are willing to take such a risk if they can pull it off. “They may feel like they have nothing to lose anyway,’’ Biddle said. Dupee, for his part, believes such a Kabul offensive could crumble the US-led coalition, including leading some NATO countries to pull out of the war. “Any type of high casualty rate among Italian or Spanish forces could prompt massive scale downs or withdrawals,’’ he said. Bender can be reached at [email protected]. © Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/03/26/us_girds_for_more_violence_in_kabul/

UN: Afghan Insurgent Violence Soaring Over Last Year's Levels ROBERT H. REID | 06/19/10 08:01 PM |

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KABUL, Afghanistan — The United Nations reported Saturday that insurgent violence has risen sharply in Afghanistan over the last three months, with roadside bombings, complex suicide attacks and assassinations soaring over last year's levels. The three-month report by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the U.N. Security Council appeared at odds with Pentagon assertions of slow but steady progress in Afghanistan – an assessment that was challenged by U.S. lawmakers during recent hearings on Capitol Hill. In the report, Ban said the overall security situation in Afghanistan has not improved since his last report in March and instead the number of violent incidents had "increased significantly compared to previous years and contrary to seasonal trends." The most "alarming trend" was a sharp rise in the number of roadside bombings, which soared 94 percent in the first four months of this year compared with the same period in 2009, Ban said. Moreover, assassinations of Afghan government officials jumped 45 percent, mostly in the ethnic Pashtun south, he said. NATO has launched a major operation to secure the biggest southern city, Kandahar, the Taliban's spiritual birthplace. At the same time, suicide attacks are occurring at the rate of about three per week, Ban said, half of them in the south. Complex attacks employing suicide bombers, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire were running about two a month, double the number in 2009, he added. During testimony Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee, senior Pentagon official Michele Flournoy said the percentage of complex attacks had fallen steadily since a peak in February and were averaging below last year's levels. She gave no figures. "The shift to more complex suicide attacks demonstrates a growing capability of the local terrorist networks linked to al-Qaida," Ban said. He attributed the rise in violence to increased NATO and Afghan military activity in the south during the first quarter of the year, including the U.S.-led attack on the Taliban stronghold of Marjah. He also cited "significant anti-government element activities" in the east and southeast of the country. "The majority of incidents continue to involve armed clashes and improvised explosive devices, each accounting for one third of the reported incidents," Ban said, referring to the military term for roadside bombs. The U.N. report found some encouraging signs, including the government's plan to reach out to insurgents and offer economic incentives to leave the battlefield. It also said the U.N. was working with Afghan officials to prepare for parliamentary elections in September. Polio vaccinations began in February to reach 7.7 million children this year, 200,000 more than last year, the report said.

Nevertheless, the overall U.N. assessment contrasted with the tone set last Wednesday by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who told a Senate panel that the U.S.-led force was making progress in Afghanistan. Gates complained about negative perceptions about the war taking root in Washington. "I think that we are regaining the initiative," Gates told the panel. "I think that we are making headway." Key congressional Democrats responded skeptically to Gates' remarks, raising questions about rising U.S. casualties and the slow pace of progress in an increasingly unpopular war. At least 53 international troops, including 34 Americans, have died so far this month, a rate that could make June among the deadliest for U.S. and other international forces in the nearly 9-year war. The deadliest month for U.S. troops was October 2009, when 59 Americans died. The deadliest for the entire international force was July 2009 when 75 troops, including 44 Americans, were killed. The U.N. also reported 395 war-related civilian casualties between April and June, a decrease of 1 percent from the same period last year. The report blamed "anti-government elements" for about 70 percent of the civilian casualties, up 3 percent from the last U.N. study in March. Insurgent attacks on schools have increased steadily across the country, the report said, with militants using threats, intimidation and violence to frighten parents and staff. The report also said the U.N. was having trouble recruiting international staff because of threats of violence and a lack of secure living facilities. Despite the negative assessment, NATO spokesman Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz told reporters Saturday that the international force was making steady strides, even though "tough fighting is expected to continue." Insurgent commanders were being apprehended by coalition forces, which over time will disrupt the ability to organize suicide and roadside bomb attacks, he said. "It has to be tougher perhaps before it goes easier," Blotz said. Using figures different from the U.N., Blotz said the number of civilians killed or wounded in operations involving the international force dropped by 44.4 percent in the past 12 weeks compared with the same period in 2009. "In the same period of time, the number of civilian casualties caused by the insurgency increased by 36 percent," Blotz said. Afghan authorities reported civilian casualties in what NATO said was an attack late Friday against the Haqqani network, an al-Qaida-linked wing of the Taliban, along the border between Khost and Paktia provinces in southern Afghanistan. NATO said the attack included precision missile strikes against "a large number of armed insurgents" although the alliance was aware of reports of civilian deaths. Shafiq Mujahid, head of the Khost provincial council, said at least six civilians, including five children and one woman, were killed in the airstrike and 13 other civilians were wounded. NATO said it would accept full responsibility if civilians were "unintentionally harmed." Also Saturday, police said gunmen assassinated a relative of a powerbroker in Kandahar the night before. The victim, Hamayun Khan, was a relative of Gul Alai, one of the Pashtun warlords who drove the Taliban from Kandahar in 2001, police said. Two Afghan civilians were killed Friday when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in the Marjah district of Helmand province, the Afghan Interior Ministry reported Saturday. Three Afghan soldiers were killed and two others wounded by a roadside bomb Friday in Paktia province in southeastern Afghanistan, according to the deputy provincial police chief, Ghulam Dastagir. Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann and Rahim Faiez in Kabul and Mirwais Khan in Kandahar contributed to this report. Get HuffPost World On Twitter, Facebook, and Google Buzz! Know something we don't? E-mail us at [email protected] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/19/un-afghan-insurgent-viole_n_618343.html

Attack on U.N. vehicle in Kabul leaves one dead The brazen assault near the heavily guarded U.S. Embassy in the Afghan capital raises concerns about humanitarian efforts in the region.

June 30, 2010|By Laura King, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan — Assailants riddled a United Nations vehicle with bullets at a busy traffic circle in the heart of Kabul on Tuesday, killing an Afghan staffer and raising new safety concerns about humanitarian operations in the country. The daylight attack, which occurred close to the heavily guarded U.S. Embassy and the sprawling headquarters of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, also rattled residents of the capital. For much of the nearly nine-year war here, Kabul has been relatively secure even as the security situation deteriorated elsewhere. But insurgents occasionally seek to demonstrate their ability to strike at will in almost any part of the city.

The Taliban fired rocket-propelled grenades this month at a gathering where President Hamid Karzai was speaking and last month set off a massive vehicle bomb on a busy roadway that killed several high-ranking Western military officers. Safety has been a thorny issue for the United Nations, which has about 1,000 foreign staff members in the country. Earlier this month, the world body said it would relocate a limited number of support staff, an announcement that coincided with the release of a U.N. report chronicling surging violence around the country. Last October, five U.N. staffers were killed in a coordinated insurgent assault on a guesthouse in the capital. Authorities said Tuesday's shooting appeared to be an opportunistic attack on the U.N. vehicle, which carried the familiar blue-and-white logo. The incident was under investigation, Afghan and U.N. officials said. "The United Nations condemns violence against any of its personnel under any circumstances," the U.N. mission in Kabul said in a statement. Taliban fighters routinely target nongovernmental organizations providing humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, accusing them of bolstering the Western war effort. Such attacks often stymie aid projects, adding to Afghans' anger and disillusionment over the slow pace of reconstruction amid the burgeoning military campaign. The United States has nearly 100,000 troops serving in Afghanistan. Military deaths this month are the highest of the war to date, with 100 Western troops killed so far in June, according to the independent website icasualties.org. Relations between Afghans and Western troops are often fraught with tension, as illustrated by a near-riot that took place Tuesday in Kabul after rumors spread that American troops had desecrated a madrasa, or religious seminary, by bringing dogs along on an overnight raid in the southeastern part of the city. In Islam, dogs are considered unclean. Afghan police said the raid was carried out solely by Afghan forces, although foreign troops guarded the perimeter. No dogs were involved, the Western military said, and Said Ghafar, the director of criminal investigation for the Kabul police, blamed "enemy propaganda" for the story's dissemination. Seven Afghan police officers were injured in the rock-throwing melee that broke out hours later in the neighborhood. Hundreds of protesters shouted slogans denouncing the American "occupation." [email protected] http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/30/world/la-fg-afghan-un-20100630

Keeping Karzai's feet to the fire By Caroline Wadhams and Colin Cookman, July 21, 2010 Wednesday, July 21, 2010 - 3:47 PM Share

On Tuesday, the Afghan government convened an international conference, bringing together more than 70 countries to discuss the way forward in Afghanistan. As in previous conferences, the Karzai government outlined an ambitious agenda to enhance aid coordination, reduce corruption, strengthen the justice system, support job creation and economic growth and more. Unfortunately, most of these commitments are unlikely to reverse the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. Even if they are implemented -- far from guaranteed given unfulfilled promises in the past -- most of the technical proposals made by the parties don't address the key source of Afghanistan's insecurity: its political crisis, which drives insurgent mobilization, contributes to declining support for the Afghan government, and lies at the root of Kabul's failure to successfully implement past commitments. Increased aid coordination and more assistance for Afghan priorities will not change the deeply flawed political system, which relies on international aid and military support to survive on a narrowing base of Afghan public support.

Which Afghans lead? The communiqué released following the conference's conclusion specifies this meeting, the London conference at the start of the year, the June peace jirga, and Karzai's November 2009 inauguration as part of a "Kabul Process" of which "the hallmark...is Afghan leadership and ownership." Unfortunately, a few brief references to public consultation and electoral reforms aside, the question of who gets a say in determining that Afghan leadership is deferred, leaving unchallenged the Karzai government's position as the sole representative of the Afghan people and the sole judge of their priorities. The tenuous nature of this claim is inadvertently exposed by the communiqué when it grounds the Karzai government's right to exercise policy leadership in "its unique and irreplaceable knowledge of its own culture and people" rather than representative legitimacy earned through elections or a transparent and genuinely consultative processes. The Karzai government operates on a highly centralized patronage model in which power and resources are principally channeled through Karzai's allies and political network and in which checks and balances on its activities -- either at the national parliamentary or local district level -- are largely absent. Karzai, who won the 2009 presidential elections in an election marred by fraud, appoints more than a thousand positions nationwide, from provincial governors to city mayors, from Supreme Court justices to district police chiefs. Afghans have little to no means of influencing decision-making, or to hold officials accountable for poor performance or outright abuses of their performance. It is then unsurprising that corruption plagues the state; an Integrity Watch report stated that Afghans paid more than $1 billion in bribes in 2009 alone, and UN estimates have put the number at almost $2.5 billion -- nearly a quarter of the national GDP. Many Afghans have joined the insurgency due to their anger with the Afghan government, from which they see themselves politically marginalized and which they perceive to be corrupt, illegitimate, and predatory. A recent Pentagon assessment found that only 29 out of 121 strategic districts surveyed were "sympathetic with" or "supportive of" the Afghan government; and a 2009 study of drivers of the insurgency found that in the insurgent areas of Wardak, Kandahar and the Kabul area, there was almost no support for the government, which was viewed as politically exclusive and a foreign puppet. The Taliban insurgency has outmaneuvered the Afghan government politically by promising swift justice and dispute resolution, providing shadow governance, and using sophisticated propaganda, violence and intimidation against those who cooperate with the Afghan government.

Lip service The Karzai government has failed to present a compelling alternative to the Taliban insurgency's brutal movement, and only political reforms that begin to address the unrepresentative nature of the Karzai government offer the chance of peace in Afghanistan. Political reforms will be essential for any reconciliation process to occur between the Karzai government and three important constituencies -- its people, the insurgency, and the international community. The international community must demand follow through on three promises in particular made at the Kabul conference: reducing corruption and instituting accountability, implementing electoral reforms, and the implementation of a subnational governance plan that cedes some decision-making powers from Kabul's exclusive control. Reduce corruption. Karzai promised to reduce corruption, but his implementation plan largely amounted to creating a number of regulations, statutes and policies related to auditing procedures within the government and for anti-corruption bodies such as the Major Crimes Task Force and the Anti-Corruption Tribunal. He also committed to publishing asset declarations of senior officials, already required by law.

These commitments ring hollow following years of broken promises on this anti-corruption efforts. Karzai has established a series of anti-corruption bodies including the General Independent Administration of Anti- Corruption in 2004, the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption, the Anti-Corruption Unit and the Major Crimes Task Force in the Attorney General's office in 2008. These efforts, all of which have been managed from the presidential office, have failed to stem the growing corruption, and reports indicate that Karzai has continued to block corruption investigations of politically connected individuals. The international community must demand genuine independence for anti-corruption and vetting offices by making them accountable to the parliament rather than Karzai alone. Changes to the electoral law: The Karzai government promised to initiate within six months a "strategy for long- term electoral reform that addresses in particular the sustainability of the electoral process" but offers little elaboration beyond that on what these reforms might be. Clearly, this does not go far enough or quickly enough in ensuring free and fair elections, especially for the parliamentary elections to be held in September 2010. The international community should put high-level pressure on Karzai to begin these reforms now. In early 2010, Karzai unilaterally rewrote the country's electoral law, giving himself the power to appoint all members of the Electoral Complaints Commission who adjudicate fraud claims (and were the only independent electoral body during the 2009 elections). Following international pressure, he subsequently agreed to name two UN representatives to that panel. Electoral reforms need to include provisions giving the parliament power to name some Electoral Complaints Commission members and to confirm the Independent Elections Commission director, rather than acceding to the executive branch's control over both. Moreover, reforms should reconsider using the Single Non-Transferable Vote (SNTV) system in Afghan elections, which critics have argued "impedes the development of political parties and prevents fair and accurate representation of Afghanistan's diverse population." Strengthen subnational governance. The Karzai government agreed in the conference communiqué to implement their Sub-National Governance Policy within 12 months. This document, passed in March 2010 following two years in the draft phase, is an important blueprint for devolving some authorities to the local level and strengthening local governance although it too has flaws. The policy envisions strengthening provincial councils' oversight powers and empowering them to approve Provincial Development Plans and provincial budgets before their submission to the central government. It also introduces budgeting processes at the provincial level, which grant elected provincial councils powers to create their own alternative budget for their respective areas -- although decision-making on the formulas for money distribution between those budgets and the ones drawn up by line ministries in Kabul remains under Karzai's control. The Sub-National Governance Policy also calls for district council and municipal council elections by March 2011 and gives municipal councils powers to enact municipal legislation, approve annual budgets, and set tax rates. Implementation of this plan should be a top priority for the international community, which should demand a clear commitment to both local elections and the introduction of the provincial budgeting process. International donors have seized on "Afghan leadership" as the means by which to extricate themselves from an increasingly costly commitment, but without changes to the way power is currently shared (or not) within Afghanistan by that leadership, there is little hope that the Afghan government will become more competent, accountable to public concerns, or reconciled with disaffected segments of society or members of the insurgency in Afghanistan. As the principle guarantors of the Karzai government's operations and its continued survival, the international community is the only constituency capable at this point of demanding meaningful political reforms. The U.S. and other international donors must hold Karzai to the promises he has made in exchange for continued economic and security assistance, and demand a more concrete commitment to genuinely inclusive power- sharing. Otherwise, the international community is likely to find itself responsible for propping up an "Afghan leadership" disconnected from the Afghan people for many years to come. Caroline Wadhams is the Director for South Asia Security Studies and Colin Cookman is a Research Assistant at the Center for American Progress. http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/07/21/keeping_karzais_feet_to_the_fire

ISAF: Afghan Air Force Protects Base from Unexploded Ordinance Kabul, Afghanistan (July 29) - Following multiple rocket attacks on the Kabul International Airport during the evening of July 19, 2010, Internal Security Assistance Force and Afghan Air Force reacted to clean up after the attack. The AAF Security Forces notified Combined Air Power Transition Force mentors of a unexploded ordinance location between the taxiway and runway in the early morning. CAPTF mentors notified Kabul North Operation Center and initiated response. AAF and CAPTF mentors marked the unexploded ordinance and provided grid coordinate for ISAF Explosive Ordinance Disposal team and directed their response. ISAF EOD spent several hours digging out the rocket buried approximately 1 meter deep. Both ISAF and AAF provided security and observation during incident. Continues at: isaf.nato.int - Afghan Air Force Protects Base from Unexploded Ordinance Posted by News Team on Thursday, 29 July 2010 at 11:40 in Pick of the Web | Permalink | Comments (0) Digg This | Save to del.icio.us http://www.blogs.mod.uk/afghanistan/2010/07/index.html RELIGION

UN: Afghan civilian deaths jumped 25 percent in first half of 2010; attack in Kabul kills 2

Published August 09, 2010 | Associated Press KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The number of civilians killed in the Afghan war jumped 25 percent in the first half of 2010 compared with the same period last year, with insurgents responsible for the spike, the United Nations said in a report Tuesday. Shortly after the U.N. released its report in Kabul, two gunmen with explosives strapped to them tried to storm the office of an international security company in the capital. When guards fought back, the men detonated their explosives, killing two Afghan drivers. The U.N. report showed a reduction in civilian casualties from NATO action, but the overall rise in deaths indicated that the war is getting ever-more violent — undermining the coalition's aim of improving security in the face of a virulent Taliban insurgency. "The human cost of this conflict is unfortunately rising," said Staffan De Mistura, the top U.N. envoy in Afghanistan. "We are very concerned about the future because the human cost is being paid too heavily by civilians. This report is a wake-up call." According to the U.N. report, 1,271 Afghans died and 1,997 were injured — mostly from bombings — in the first six months of the year. There were 1,013 civilian deaths in the first six months of 2009. The U.N. said insurgents were responsible for 72 percent of the deaths — up from 58 percent last year. In much of the south, people say they are too scared to work with NATO forces or the Afghan government because they will then be targeted by insurgents. And the risk of attack makes travel, running a business or any sort of community organizing or political campaigning dangerous. The attack on Hart Security in Kabul started with a gunbattle as the assailants tried to shoot their way in to the compound in the largely residential Taimani neighborhood about 3:30 p.m. (1100 GMT, 7 a.m. EDT), said Abdul Ghafar Sayedzada, chief of criminal investigations for the Kabul police. The Taliban told The Associated Press that they orchestrated the attack. After the assault, a group of men could be seen carrying a body out of the building toward a waiting police truck. One of the men carrying the body was weeping, according to an AP reporter at the scene. The attack appeared timed to coincide with the end of the company's workday, Sayedzada said. Area residents said they heard shooting about the same time as the blast. "I was about to park my car when I heard gunfire. I turned and saw shooting between the security guards and two other people. They were trying to get in the building," said Mohammad Sharif, who lives nearby. "In the middle of that fighting suddenly there was a big explosion." One of the security guards was also wounded, Sayedzada said. The Kabul deaths were not the day's only civilian casualties. Three civilians were killed when their car struck a roadside bomb just outside the eastern city of Ghazni, according to deputy provincial governor Kazim Allayar. And an insurgent-planted bomb killed an Afghan civilian near southern Kandahar city on Monday, according to NATO forces. De Mistura said militants were using larger and more sophisticated explosive devices throughout the nation. "If they want to be part of a future Afghanistan, they cannot do so over the bodies of so many civilians," de Mistura said. De Mistura said that does not dissuade the U.N. from seeking a negotiated peace between the government and the Taliban, but he called on insurgent groups to consider whether they are not hurting their own long-term goals. "One day, when unavoidably there will be a discussion about the future of the country, will you want to come to that table with thousands of Afghans, civilians, killed along the road?" Deaths from U.S., NATO and other pro-government forces dropped in the first six months of 2010. The report said that 223, or 18 percent, of the Afghan deaths were due to U.S., NATO and other pro-government forces. That was down from 310 deaths, or 31 percent, during the first six months of last year, primarily because of a decrease in airstrikes, the report said. Even so, air attacks were the largest single cause of civilian deaths caused by pro-government forces — accounting for 31 percent. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former NATO commander, introduced strict rules on air strikes and called on soldiers to assess the likelihood of civilian casualties before taking any action. His successor, Gen. David Petraeus, has continued the policy. "Every Afghan death diminishes our cause," Petraeus said in a statement. He also noted that even the increase in insurgent-caused deaths can hurt NATO's effort. "We know the measure by which our mission will be judged is protecting the population from harm by either side. We will redouble our efforts to prevent insurgents from harming their neighbors," Petraeus said. Though bombs continued to be the largest killer, there was a large jump in deaths from assassinations, particularly in the last few months. There were about four assassinations or executions of civilians a week in the first six months of 2009. That jumped to about seven per week in the first six months of this year, spiking in May and June to 18 per week. "These figures show that the Taliban are resorting to desperate measures, increasingly executing and assassinating civilians, including teachers, doctors, civil servants and tribal elders," said Rachel Reid, Afghanistan researcher for Human Rights Watch. "Targeting civilians violates the laws of war." 77

The Taliban has called on its fighters to avoid civilian casualties, but the group pointedly excludes anyone allied with the government from this protection. So mayors, community elders taking foreign money for development projects and mullahs seen as supporting the government have all become targets. Children have also increasingly become casualties. The report says 176 children were killed and 389 others were wounded — up 55 percent over the same six-month period last year. Elsewhere in Afghanistan, seven Afghan policemen were killed Monday in attacks in southern Helmand province, police officials said. In Laghman province in the east, seven Afghan soldiers have died and 14 have been wounded in ongoing fighting with insurgents on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Mehtar, said Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry. He confirmed reports that up to 20 Afghan soldiers have gone missing in the province and are in the hands of the Taliban. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/08/09/charity-plans-stay- afghanistan-despite-murders-aid-workers/

Afghan civilian deaths spike in 2010: UN

'A grim and bleak picture,' report says

Last Updated: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 | 11:47 AM ET Comments261Recommend43

CBC News

An Afghan youth carries a bundle of hay on his back as U.S. army soldiers pass by during a patrol in Kolack, a village in northeastern Afghanistan. (Brennan Linsley/Associated Press)

The number of civilians killed or injured in Afghanistan jumped 31 per cent in the first six months of the year due to a rise in violence by insurgents, the United Nations said in a report Tuesday. More than 1,270 people were killed and 1,997 injured between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2010, according to the report. Insurgents, or what the report calls "anti-government elements," were responsible for 76 per cent of those casualties, an increase of 53 per cent over the same period in 2009.

Staffan De Mistura, special representative of the United Nations for Afghanistan, speaks during a news conference in Kabul in March 2010. (Rafiq Maqbool/Associated Press)

"The first six months of 2010 painted a grim and bleak picture for civilians affected by the armed conflict," the report said. The report, and the rising human cost of the conflict in Afghanistan that it reflects, are "a wake-up call," said Staffan De Mistura, the top UN envoy in Afghanistan. "We are worried," De Mistura said. "We are very concerned about the future because the human cost is being paid too heavily by civilians." A spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai called the increase "shocking." "We cannot compensate the loss of any single Afghan who lost their life," Waheed Omar told a press conference in Kabul, Reuters reported. "Our motto is protection of the Afghan people, providing protection to the Afghan people," Omar reportedly said. "Any single case of civilian causalities is not justifiable on our side."

Children, women most vulnerable Children and women are increasingly paying the cost, the report showed.

Female casualties rose six per cent between January and June, while child casualties jumped 55 per cent over the year before.

Afghan children look out from behind coils of razor wire as they watch Canadian troops and Afghan National Army soldiers patrol near the Mas'um Ghar base in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan in 2006. (David Guttenfelder/Associated Press) The increases are due to "an extreme lack of protection in conflict-affected areas along with widespread violation of their basic human rights," the report said. Improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, caused 29 per cent of all civilian deaths in the first half of 2010, and were overall the insurgents' "deadliest tactic." As the UN held its briefing in Kabul, three civilians were killed when their car struck a roadside bomb just outside Ghazni city in eastern Afghanistan, according to Kazim Allayar, deputy governor of Ghazni province. An insurgent-planted bomb also killed an Afghan civilian near the southern end of the city of Kandahar on Monday, according to NATO forces. De Mistura said the insurgent-caused jump in civilian deaths would not dissuade the UN from seeking a negotiated peace with the Taliban.

Military reaction Deaths from U.S., NATO and other pro-government forces dropped in the first six months of 2010. The report said that 223, or 18 per cent, of the Afghan deaths were due to U.S., NATO and other pro-government forces. That was down from 310 deaths, or 31 per cent, during the first six months of last year, primarily because of a decrease in air strikes, the report said. Even so, air attacks were the largest single cause of civilian deaths caused by pro-government forces — accounting for 31 per cent.

'We will redouble our efforts to prevent insurgents from harming their neighbours.' —Gen. David Petraeus, NATO commander

"Every Afghan death diminishes our cause," Gen. David Petraeus, NATO's commander, said in a statement. He also noted that even the increase in insurgent-caused deaths could hurt NATO's effort. "We know the measure by which our mission will be judged is protecting the population from harm by either side. We will redouble our efforts to prevent insurgents from harming their neighbours," Petraeus said.

Assassinations rise Though bombs continued to be the largest killer, there was a large jump in deaths from assassinations, particularly in the last few months. There were about four assassinations or executions of civilians a week in the first six months of 2009. That jumped to about seven per week this year, and in May and June to 18 per week. The Taliban has called on their fighters to avoid civilian casualties, but the group pointedly excludes anyone allied with the government from this protection. So mayors, community elders taking foreign money for development projects and mullahs seen as supporting the government have all become targets. With files from The Associated Press Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/08/10/afghanistan-deaths-un-report.html#ixzz0wdjbndJ0

Taliban bombers target Western security villa in Kabul KABUL (10th August 2010)

Taliban suicide bombers blew themselves up at the entrance of a guesthouse occupied by a Western security company in central Kabul on Tuesday, killing two drivers, police and witnesses said. “There were two suicide bombers who detonated themselves at the entrance. Two drivers were killed and a security guard was injured,” Sayed Abdul Ghafar Sayedzada, the head of police criminal investigations, told reporters. Sayedzada said the two civilians killed were drivers, and that the guesthouse was used by international security contractors Hart. A senior representative of the London-based company told AFP: “THere was an incident in the vicinity of the Hart villa. We have reports on a number of locals injured. That’s all we know”. Interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary confirmed there had been a suicide attack in the Taimani district north of Kabul. Shopkeeper Ghulam Mustafa told AFP he heard gunshots for a few minutes and later a “big explosion”. The Taliban claimed responsibility for a joint suicide and gun attack. An AFP reporter saw three bodies, one of them riddled with bullets, near the single-storey guesthouse that local residents said was run by foreigners. A car could be seen at the guesthouse entrance, where the gates had been blown away. Insurgents have increasingly targeted guesthouses in the capital, which is heavily fortified with a “ring of steel” in place to secure the city perimeter. The last suicide attack was on July 18 when a bomber on a bicycle struck a bustling street, killing three people two days ahead of an international conference in Kabul attended by major foreign donors. In the insurgent south of Afghanistan, six police officers were killed in two attacks, police said Tuesday. Nearly 150,000 US-led coalition forces are in Afghanistan fighting a nearly nine-year Taliban-led insurgency that is as its most fierce in the militants’ southern heartlands of Kandahar and Helmand provinces. http://www.aaj.tv/2010/08/taliban-bombers-target-western-security-villa-in-kabul/

Travel Warning U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Bureau of Consular Affairs Afghanistan August 13, 2010 The Department of State warns U.S. citizens against travel to Afghanistan. The security threat to all U.S. citizens in Afghanistan remains critical. This supersedes the Travel Warning for Afghanistan issued May 25, 2010, to remind U.S. citizens of ongoing security risks, including kidnapping and insurgent attacks. 2. No part of Afghanistan should be considered immune from violence, and the potential exists throughout the country for hostile acts, either targeted or random, against American and other Western nationals at any time. Remnants of the former Taliban regime and the al-Qa'ida terrorist network, as well as other groups hostile to International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)/NATO military operations, remain active. There is an ongoing threat to kidnap and assassinate U.S. citizens and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) workers throughout the country. Afghan authorities have a limited ability to maintain order and ensure the security of Afghan citizens and visitors. Travel in all areas of Afghanistan is unsafe due to military combat operations, landmines, banditry, armed rivalry between political and tribal groups, and the possibility of terrorist attacks, including attacks using vehicular or other improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The security environment remains volatile and unpredictable. On August 5, 2010, a group of doctors, nurses, and medical practitioners, including six U.S. citizens, were shot and killed near their vehicles in Badakhshan province as they completed a medical aid visit to remote areas in nearby Nuristan province. Also in Badakhshan province in spring 2010, a group of U.S. citizen missionaries who were alleged to be proselytizing in the area encountered hostility and required joint evacuation by the Ministry of Interior and the U.S. Embassy. In Kandahar, the assassination of government officials, their associates, or anyone notably linked to the government has become alarming. The number of attacks throughout the south and southeastern areas of the country is growing as a result of insurgent and drug-related activity, and no part of Afghanistan is immune from violence. Kabul is also considered at high risk for militant attacks, including rocket attacks, vehicle borne IEDs, and suicide bombings. More than 20 attacks were reported in Kabul over the past year, although many additional attacks were thwarted by Afghan and coalition forces. Incidents have occurred with some frequency on the Kabul-Jalalabad Road (commonly called Jalalabad Road) and Kabul to Bagram Road. As a result, these roads are highly restricted for Embassy employees and, if the security situation warrants, sometimes prohibited completely. Five United Nations (UN) workers were killed during an attack on a UN guesthouse in Kabul in October 2009. Insurgents have also targeted the offices, convoys, and individuals of implementing partners of the U.S. Agency for International Development. The attack against a Kandahar guesthouse on April 15, 2010, along with the UN attack mentioned above, highlights the growing threat against guesthouses. Buildings or compounds that lack robust security measures in comparison to neighboring facilities may be viewed as targets of opportunity by insurgents. Riots and incidents of civil disturbance can and do occur, often without warning. U.S. citizens should avoid rallies and demonstrations; even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence. Ambushes, robberies, and violent crime remain a problem. U.S. citizens involved in property disputes -- a common legal problem -- have reported that their adversaries in the disputes have threatened their lives. U.S. citizens who find themselves in such situations cannot assume that either local law enforcement or the U.S. Embassy will be able to assist them. From time to time, depending on current security conditions, the U.S. Embassy places areas frequented by foreigners off limits to its personnel. Potential target areas include key national or international government establishments, international organizations and other locations with expatriate personnel, and public areas popular with the expatriate community. Private U.S. citizens are strongly urged to heed these restrictions as well and may obtain the latest information by consulting the embassy website below. The U.S. Embassy's ability to provide emergency consular services to U.S. citizens in Afghanistan is limited, particularly for those persons outside the capital. U.S. citizens who choose to visit or remain in Afghanistan despite this Travel Warning are encouraged to register with the U.S. Embassy in Kabul through the State Department's travel registration website and to obtain updated information on travel and security within Afghanistan. U.S. citizens without Internet access may register directly with the U.S. Embassy. Registering makes it easier for the Embassy to contact U.S. citizens in case of emergency. The U.S. Embassy is located at Great Masood Road between Radio Afghanistan and the Ministry of Public Health (the road is also known as Bebe Mahro or Airport Road), Kabul. The Embassy phone numbers are +93-700-108-001 and +93-700-108- 002; the Consular Section can be reached at +93-700-201-908 for after-hours emergencies involving U.S. citizens; email is [email protected]. The Embassy website is located here. Current information on travel and security in Afghanistan may be obtained from the Department of State by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the United States and Canada or, for callers outside the United States and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. For further information, please consult the Country Specific Information for Afghanistan and the current Worldwide Caution, which are available on the Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet website. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_2121.html

Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) The Afghanistan NGO Safety Offices (ANSO) issues regular security updates.

In KabulWe advise against all travel to the Surobi, Paghman, Musayhi, Khak-e Jabbar and Chahar Asyab Districts of Kabul province.

 We advise against all but essential travel to Kabul City itself and the remaining districts in the province.

Recent significant attacks include:

 On the afternoon of 10 August 2010, two insurgents attempted to force entry into a compound on Taimani Street 9 in Qal-e Fatullah – an area of Kabul City. The attempt was repelled by local security guards, who shot one attacker dead, but the other managed to detonate a suicide vest. In the process, at least three Afghan nationals were killed or wounded.  At 0530hrs on 05 August 2010, a roadside bomb was detonated near to Karte Naw in Kabul City. It would appear that the device was remotely controlled and specifically targeting an ANP vehicle patrol - one policeman was wounded.  On the night of 19 July 2010, at least four rockets were fired at Kabul International Airport in two waves. They were ineffective and no casualties or damage was reported.  On the morning of 18 July 2010, Kabul City witnessed its first insurgent attack for exactly two months, when a body borne suicide bomber on a bicycle detonated near to an ISAF convoy on the road connecting the Jalalabad Road to the Airport Road, near to the ‘Russian Flats’ at Macrorayan. There were at reportedly eight deaths and many more civilian casualties.  On the night of 12 June 10, insurgents launched three rockets, which impacted on open ground near Kabul International Airport. The attack was ineffective and no casualties or damage was reported.  On 2 Jun 10, insurgents carried out an ineffective rocket attack against the assembled ‘Peace Jirga’ (at Kabul Polytechnic ,near Karte Parwan), followed by a thwarted attempt at an RPG attack and incursion on western perimeter.  On 29 May 10, on the north-eastern outskirts of the city, a suicide bomber detonated his IED upon jumping out of a truck cab on the Old Bagram Road. The ineffective attack was carried out near warehouses belonging to a company providing logistic support to ISAF.  On 22 May 2010, Afghan police reported that they had seized a major cache of nearly 300 rockets hidden on the outskirts of Kabul. These rockets were of a larger calibre (122mm) than usually launched in Kabul City, and therefore had a greater explosive capacity and range. It is assessed that these rockets would have been used in attacks on the city, including, potentially, the Peace Jirga.  On the morning of 18 May 2010, Kabul City witnessed its first major successful insurgent attack for two months, when a ¾ tonne car bomb detonated against an ISAF convoy on the Darulaman Road (near to the King’s Palace on the southern outskirts of the city). This appears to have been an opportunist attack. There were at least six ISAF and fifteen Afghan civilian deaths, and many more injuries.  On 21 March 2010, three rockets (assessed to be 107mm) were fired at Kabul International Airport. There was some damage to a parked civilian aircraft, but no casualties sustained.  On the morning of 06 March 2010, one rocket impacted in District 9.  On 26 January 2010, a suicide vehicle bomber attacked an ISAF foot patrol on the Jalalabad Road, in the vicinity of Camp Phoenix. This resulted in eight ISAF soldiers and eight civilians wounded, with damage to several civilian cars in the vicinity. No fatalities were reported apart from the occupant(s) of the vehicle bomb. http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by- country/asia-oceania/afghanistan

Articles concerning the Security Situation in Kabul 2011 ISAF Releases ISAF Condemns Insurgent IED Attack in Kabul

ISAF Joint Command - Afghanistan 2011-01-CA-004 KABUL, Afghanistan (Jan. 12, 2011) – The International Security Assistance Force condemns today’s indiscriminate insurgent attack in Kabul city which killed at least two Afghans and injured at least 32 more. Initial reports indicate an insurgent on a motorcycle detonated an IED in front of a hospital in Kabul city today. At least one Afghan civilian and one member of the National Directorate of Security were killed in the blast. The wounded include NDS personnel, several hospital patients and civilians. “This vile attack deliberately targeted Afghan officials and civilians. We offer our sincere condolences to the families of those murdered by this attack, and we wish for a swift recovery for all those injured,” said Rear Admiral Vic Beck, ISAF Director of Public Affairs. “We will continue our efforts to assist the Afghan government in bringing those responsible to justice.” http://www.isaf.nato.int/article/isaf-releases/isaf-condemns-insurgent-ied-attack-in-kabul.html

Pashtun Suicide bomber kills civilians including Hazaras in Kabul

Insurgent attack on Kabul base repulsed, NATO says Saturday, April 2, 2011

KABUL, Afghanistan -- NATO says its forces have successfully repelled an attack on one of its bases on the outskirts of the Afghan capital and killed at least two insurgents firing small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. The coalition told The Associated Press in an email that three of its soldiers were wounded in Saturday's attack, but that their injuries were not serious. NATO said at least one attacker was possibly wearing a suicide vest. It added that the attack had ended. Kabul provincial Police chief Gen. Mohammad Ayub Salangi said there were reports of three attackers involved and that two died when their vests detonated. He said a third was shot. Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co..http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/02/insurgent-attack-on-kabul-base-repulsed-nato-says/?print

Insurgent strike inside Afghan defense ministry, 2 dead

Afghan army soldiers guard the outside of Afghanistan's Defence Ministry in Kabul, April 18, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Omar Sobhani By Hamid Shalizi

KABUL | KABUL (Reuters) - An insurgent killed two people in the Afghan defence ministry on Monday in the third attack on security installations in four days, with the violence likely to raise questions about military transition plans due to start this year.

A man in an Afghan army uniform opened fire in the ministry in central Kabul, killing two employees and wounding seven, said Defence Ministry spokesman Zaher Azimy. The man was also wearing a suicide-bomb belt, but did not have time to detonate it, said Azimy, who had earlier described the man as a soldier rather than an insurgent in army uniform. "The attacker was shot dead before he set off his explosives, and the situation is normal," he said. The attack comes months before the start of a transfer of security responsibilities from foreign to Afghan forces, and after NATO-led troops claimed solid progress in efforts to bolster the numbers and quality of the Afghan police and army. Under the gradual transition programme, Afghan forces will begin by taking over from foreign troops in just a few areas, but should have control of the whole country by the end of 2014. But in recent days militants in security uniforms, or soldiers gone "rogue", have penetrated some of the most important police and army installations in the country, in attacks likely to compound worries about the security handover. Afghan forces are already riddled with problems, ranging from illiteracy to shortages of equipment and leaders, that will make meeting the 2014 deadline a challenge. On Saturday, a suicide bomber in an Afghan army uniform got into a sprawling desert base in the east of the country and killed five foreign and four Afghan soldiers, the highest toll of NATO-led troops in a single attack for several months. Last Friday, a suicide bomber in police uniform evaded tight security at the police headquarters in Kandahar city and killed Khan Mohammad Mujahid, the police chief in the southern province of Kandahar. Both places are ringed by formidable defences, but cash or commitment to the insurgent cause rendered the walls useless at keeping out militants.

FRENCH TARGET? The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Monday attack on the ministry, saying they were targeting planned meetings with French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet, who is visiting Afghanistan. The French embassy said the minister was not in the building at the time of the shooting, but declined further comment on his schedule. The wounded included an assistant to the defence minister and secretary of the army chief of staff, said Afghanistan's Tolo TV, quoting unidentified ministry sources. The attack in Kandahar showed the Taliban are still able to mount sophisticated raids in the centre of the city, which gave birth to the insurgency and which has been a focus of military efforts by the United States and its international allies. Although initial reports suggested the Kabul assault did not claim any senior victims, it was a heavy psychological blow to the heart of the army, and a reminder of insurgents' reach even in the centre of the capital and when they are under stepped up pressure from NATO-led forces and a growing Afghan army.

The Defence Ministry lies near the Presidential palace and several other ministries. The road leading to the building was closed off on Monday afternoon, with even ministry employees turned away, but Azimy said the situation was now under control. (Writing by Emma Graham-Harrison; Editing by Robert Birsel) TOP NEWS http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/04/18/idINIndia-56406820110418

Kabul airport 27/04/11 16:24 CET WORLD NEWS Eight American troops from the NATO-led force in Afghanistan have been shot dead by an Afghan air force pilot at Kabul airport. An American contractor and the gunman were also killed in the shootout. British media reports quoted an Afghan security official who said the pilot was suffering from “mental illness” and got involved in an argument. However the Taliban said they had ordered the killings. The shootings follow a series of attacks by Afghan security forces against their NATO colleagues carried out by so-called “rogue soldiers”. It is believed that rapid recruitment into the Afghan military has raised fears that the Taliban have infiltrated the service. The nationalities of those killed have yet to be released. More about: Afghanistan, Kabul, NATO,Shootings Copyright © 2013 euronews http://www.euronews.com/2011/04/27/foreign-soldiers-killed-in-kabul-airport-shooting

The Insurgency in Afghanistan’s Heartland Wednesday, June 29th, 2011 | Filed under ASIA,ISLAMIC TERRORISM,Latest Articles,NORTH AMERICA,USA,Uncategorized | Posted by admin

The Insurgency in Afghanistan’s Heartland

International Crisis Group

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS The insurgency in Afghanistan has expanded far beyond its stronghold in the south east. Transcending its traditional Pashtun base, the Taliban is bolstering its influence in the central-eastern provinces by installing shadow governments and tapping into the vulnerabilities of a central government crippled by corruption and deeply dependent on a corrosive war economy. Collusion between insurgents and corrupt government officials in Kabul and the nearby provinces has increased, leading to a profusion of criminal networks in the Afghan heartland. Despite efforts to combat the insurgency in the south, stability in the centre has steadily eroded. Yet, with nearly one fifth of the population residing in Kabul and its surrounding provinces, the Afghan heartland is pivotal to the planned transition from international troops to Afghan forces at the end of 2014. Given the insurgency’s entrenchment so close to the capital, however, it appears doubtful that President Hamid Karzai’s government will be able to contain the threat and stabilise the country by then. Countering the insurgency in these crucial areas requires the implementation of long-overdue reforms, including more robust anti-corruption efforts, stricter oversight over international aid and greater support for capacity building in the judicial and financial sectors. Although the number of major attacks on Kabul has recently declined, insurgent networks have been able to reinforce their gains in provinces and districts close to the city, launching smaller attacks on soft targets. Outmanned and outgunned by the thousands of foreign and Afghan security forces in and around Kabul, Taliban attacks inside the capital are not aimed at controlling it physically but to capture it psychologically. Once that objective is achieved, the political and financial cost of doing business for foreign forces and diplomatic missions located in Kabul will be too high to sustain for the long haul. An aggressive campaign of assassinations of government officials and infiltration of Afghan security forces in neighbouring provinces has, meanwhile, gutted the government’s ability to expand its reach to the periphery. In the rural areas of Ghazni, Wardak, Logar and other nearby provinces, where unemployment runs high and government presence is low, the insurgency has found safe havens far from the borders of Pakistan. A little more than a year after the transfer of additional U.S. troops was completed, violence increased across the country, hitting new peaks in May 2011 as the Taliban launched their spring offensive, which resulted in the highest recorded number of civilian casualties incurred in a single month since the U.S. engagement in Afghanistan began in 2001. It is unlikely that this trend will be reversed anytime soon. Following the announcement by President Barack Obama on 22 June 2011 of U.S. plans to withdraw 33,000 troops by September 2012, it appears likely that the insurgency will push forcefully to gain more ground before the military drawdown reaches its final phase by December 2014. Nearly a decade after the U.S.-led military intervention began, little has been done to challenge the perverse incentives of continued conflict in Afghanistan. Insecurity and the inflow of billions of dollars in international

assistance has failed to significantly strengthen the state’s capacity to provide security or basic services and has instead, by progressively fusing the interests of political gatekeepers and insurgent commanders, provided new opportunities for criminals and insurgents to expand their influence inside the government. The economy as a result is increasingly dominated by a criminal oligarchy of politically connected businessmen. On the surface, security conditions in the capital city appear relatively stable. The nexus between criminal enterprises, insurgent networks and corrupt political elites, however, is undermining Kabul’s security and that of the central-eastern corridor. Afghan citizens, meanwhile, are squeezed on all sides – by the government, the insurgency and international forces. The insurgency’s penetration of the greater Kabul area has also intensified competition between Taliban fighters associated with Mullah Omar’s Quetta Shura (leadership council), the North Waziristan-based Haqqani network and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Hizb-e Islami. Violent rivalries between commanders of these insurgent groups in places such as Kapisa, Logar and Wardak have resulted in the loss of hundreds of lives. Caught in the middle are ordinary Afghans who remain fearful of a Taliban return to power. Tasked with quelling the violence, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is perceived as unable or unwilling to distinguish between civilians and insurgents and to reduce dependence on corrupt government officials in its counterinsurgency strategy. Stabilisation and improving security beyond Kabul will depend on confronting corruption in the capital and outlying areas. This will require a comprehensive reassessment of current anti-corruption efforts, which so far have proven ineffective. Building capacity in the judicial sector while weeding out corruption is crucial for lasting reform. Afghan agencies with the combined mandate of countering corruption, organised crime and terrorism financing such as the Special Investigations Unit, the Major Crimes Task Force and the Financial Transactions Reports Analysis Centre of Afghanistan need more support. A broad review of the policies and operational practices of the country’s national intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), will also be important to ensure against abuses of power that may further fuel the insurgency. Fighting the insurgency is synonymous with providing citizens security and basic services and tackling corruption. The Afghan government and the international community must accept and prepare for the risks that come with targeting powerful political and business elites in and around Kabul for prosecution and sanctions. The potential short-term pain of political tensions that may arise over such prosecutions is worth the long-term gains associated with striking at the primary causes of the insurgency – poor governance, corruption and misuse of force by Afghan or foreign forces. With just three years left before the bulk of international forces withdraw, the window of opportunity to expand security outside Kabul is fast closing. It is unlikely that this can be achieved unless a better balance can be struck between taking the fight to the field and countering the causes of the insurgency. Failure in Afghanistan is not inevitable, but without a recalibration of the current counter-insurgency strategy, success is far from guaranteed.

RECOMMENDATIONS

To the Government of Afghanistan: 1. Invest more resources in building the state’s capacity to confront organised crime and corruption: a) fully reinstate the Major Crimes Task Force and Sensitive Investigations Unit as independent law enforcement bodies; outline and implement a public policy of non-interference in corruption investigations; b) expand the capacity of the Financial Transactions Reports Analysis Centre of Afghanistan and consider creating an agency liaison to parliament that regularly produces public reports about the agency’s findings; and c) clarify criteria for corruption investigations and harmonise policy on pursuing sensitive cases involving high- level officials; reinvest resources allocated for anti-corruption across judicial institutions with special focus on building capacity in the attorney general’s office.

2. Launch a full-scale review of National Directorate of Security operational and administrative practices: a) implement more aggressive procedures for the monitoring and oversight of operational funds at the provincial level; and b) enhance the powers of parliamentary Internal Security and Defence Committees to call security agencies such as NDS to account and adopt policies and legislation that provide for more detailed budgetary information about NDS to be submitted to parliament on a regular basis. 3. Conduct anti-corruption efforts in a more robust and public manner by prosecuting high-profile officials implicated in supporting the insurgency and by working with international partners to impose sanctions against individuals and firms who have financed it. 88

4. Provide stronger support to the attorney general’s anti-corruption unit by realigning the unit’s priorities to focus on the prosecution of racketeering, bribery and extortion schemes by government officials at all levels. 5. Enhance and enforce regulatory controls over currency trading through increased monitoring and investigation of informal currency traders; and adopt stricter controls over the import, export and trade of national and foreign currencies within the country’s borders by creating incentives for currency traders to register while imposing harsher penalties on unregistered ones.

To the U.S. and NATO/ISAF: 6. Realign financial support to reflect concerns over corruption; insist on greater accountability for international aid spent on reconstruction and in support of Afghan national security forces, particularly for aid in support of NDS and other security organs. 7. Revise and implement counter-insurgency policy guidelines to encourage more rigorous review of information and broadening sources of information in order to minimise the risk of civilian casualties and wrongful detentions; increasing accountability mechanisms and encouraging greater transparency in the investigation of civilian casualties, alleged abuses and wrongful detentions. 8. Insist on more stringent vetting procedures for appointees in the Afghan security forces, particularly in NDS, and the swift removal and prosecution of security officials found to be involved in facilitating insurgent activities. 9. Strike a better balance between spending on the improvement of the tactical capabilities of Afghan national security forces and increasing the investigative capacity of law enforcement and counter-terrorism agencies. 10. Consider partially withholding funding for security sector development until the Afghan government demonstrates a genuine commitment to supporting the Major Crimes Task Force, Sensitive Investigative Unit and other anti-corruption agencies. abul/Brussels, 27 June 2011 http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/asia/south-asia/afghanistan/207-the-insurgency-in- afghanistans-heartland.aspx Please visit The International Crisis Group at http://crisisgroup.org for more reports from this important think tank which is highly acclaimed Asia Report N°207 http://global-security-news.com/2011/06/29/the-insurgency-in-afghanistan%E2%80%99s- heartland/

Police search Kabul hotel after Taliban attack kills 9 Wed, Jun 29 2011  Kabul hotel ablaze after Taliban suicide attack  Obama talks debt, Libya, Afghanistan

1 of 13. Smoke and flames rise from the Intercontinental hotel during a battle between NATO-led forces and suicide bombers and Taliban insurgents in Kabul June 29, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Stringer By Alistair Scrutton

KABUL | Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:38pm EDT

The nine attackers, armed with rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons, stormed the heavily guarded Intercontinental hotel, frequented by Westerners and VIPs, before a NATO helicopter killed the remaining insurgents in a final rooftop battle that ended a raid lasting more than five hours. The foreign victim was a Spanish civil aviation pilot, according to Spain's foreign ministry. The brazen raid came only a week after President Barack Obama announced a phased withdrawal of combat troops to 2014, and it raised more doubts about the ability of Afghan security forces to battle insurgents. It needed a NATO helicopter to finally finish off the attackers, and NATO trainers helped oversee the Afghan police response to the raid. After several explosions, attackers entered the hotel late on Tuesday and made their way to the ballroom, a hotel receptionist said. Some carried tape recorders playing Taliban war songs and shot at anyone they saw. Guests jumped from second and third floors to escape, the receptionist told Reuters, asking not to be identified. "The police are still searching room by room to see if there are any casualties or any threats," Kabul police chief Ayoub Salangi told reporters. Eight people were wounded in the attack, according to the Interior Ministry. There have been insurgent attacks at a hotel, guesthouse and a supermarket in Kabul over the past year, although the capital has been relatively quiet compared with the rest of the country. The timing of the attack, suggested similarities with other raids meant to show the Taliban retain the ability to strike at will despite gains made by NATO-led troops over the past 18 months. Some guests included provincial governors attending a conference due to begin on Wednesday over the transition of civil and military responsibility from foreign forces to Afghans, two Afghan officials said. Last week, Obama announced plans for an initial withdrawal of 10,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year, with another 23,000 to leave by the end of 2012, sparking concern the Afghan security forces were not ready to take over. But President Hamid Karzai said the plan stood. "This insurgent attack cannot stop our security transition process," Karzai said in a statement.

LATE-NIGHT ATTACK Hours after the attack began, some foreign hotel guests were driven away in diplomatic vehicles while others waited on a street outside the hotel as the sun rose over Kabul. Reuters witnesses heard at least seven blasts over the course of more than five hours, with bursts of gunfire heard. Three insurgents were shot dead while six blew themselves up. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said several fighters from the Islamist group had attacked the hotel.

Mujahid, who spoke to Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location, said heavy casualties had been inflicted. The Taliban often exaggerate the number of casualties in attacks against Western and Afghan government targets. One blast was heard at the start of the attack and then three more about an hour later, one of the Reuters witnesses said. Bursts of gunfire were heard over the same period and flares lit up the sky. Reuters television footage showed police firing tracer rounds into the air as other officers moved through the hotel. Power was cut in the hotel and in surrounding areas after the attack. The hotel, built on a hill in western Kabul with fortifications around it, was for years the city's main hotel and is often used for conferences and by Westerners. Violence has flared across Afghanistan since the Taliban announced the start of a spring offensive at the beginning of May. The last big attack on a major Kabul hotel used by foreigners was in January 2008, when several Taliban gunmen killed six people in a commando-style raid on the city-center Serena hotel. The increase in violence comes as NATO-led forces prepare to hand security responsibility to Afghans in seven areas from next month at the start of the gradual transition that will end with all combat foreign troops leaving by the end of 2014. The two-day conference to discuss the transition was due to begin in a government building in the center of the city on Wednesday. Officials said the conference would go on despite the attack. Violence across Afghanistan in 2010 the worst since the Taliban were ousted by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in late 2001. (Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi, Omar Sobhani and Ahmad Masood; Editing by Robert Birsel) http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/29/us-afghanistan-violence-idUSTRE75R6BC20110629

European think-tank warns: Insurgency strengthening in Afghanistan

By James Cogan 5 July 2011 The latest June 25 report on the US and NATO occupation of Afghanistan by the European-based International Crisis Group (ICG) concludes that the Taliban and other insurgent organisations are extending their influence across the country, and particularly around the capital Kabul. The ICG contradicts the claims made by US President Barack Obama on June 22 when he announced the staged withdrawal of some American troops over the next 18 months. Obama declared that his surge of additional forces to Afghanistan had placed the occupation in a “position of strength.” He insisted that the Afghan army of President Hamid Karzai’s puppet government would be able to take over most security operations throughout the country by the end of 2014. Based on field research and interviews conducted in seven provinces of Afghanistan between November 2010 and May 2011, the ICG report stated that while “failure is not inevitable” for the US-led occupation, “success is far from guaranteed.” Rather than crumbling, the insurgency was merging with the country’s business elite and elements within Karzai’s government and security forces, as they all prepared for the perceived inevitable withdrawal of foreign forces. The report described growing “collusion” between insurgent groups and “corrupt government officials” in Kabul and surrounding provinces that were ostensibly under the control of NATO troops. It declared that “insecurity” and “billions of dollars in international assistance” were “progressively fusing the interests of political gatekeepers and insurgent commanders, providing new opportunities for criminals and insurgents to expand their influence inside the government.” The ICG described the Afghan economy as “increasingly dominated by a criminal oligarchy of politically- connected businessmen” who had relations with both the government and the insurgents. While the Afghan people suffered war and repression, a tiny elite was gouging out vast fortunes from the so-called reconstruction and aid money that continued to flow into the country. The ICG report implies that as Obama’s “surge” focussed on controlling southern provinces such as Kandahar, Helmand and Uruzgan, the Taliban and other insurgent organisations turned to building up their political and economic influence in the provinces surrounding Kabul. The ICG noted that in 2010 there were more attacks on NATO and Afghan government forces in the central province of Ghazni than either Helmand or Kandahar. As the tenth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan approaches, the ICG assessed that the Taliban has functioning shadow governments in all the key provinces surrounding the capital. Taliban groups maintained fighting units, operated courts, taxed drug-trafficking and other criminal activity and received tribute from local officials and Afghan security forces. The ICG research showed that in Wardak, Logar and Ghazni provinces the Taliban and other insurgent groups worked with local officials and businessmen to mine and export large quantities of chromite―an iron oxide used in the production of stainless steel. The minerals were smuggled to processing plants in Pakistan and sold into the Chinese market. In Wardak, the local Taliban also generated considerable income from taxes on the province’s large-scale apple industry. The ICG uncovered “numerous reports” that the Taliban struck deals with local officials and village heads to allow “reconstruction” projects to go ahead, or even to request such funding. The Taliban then skimmed off money and other resources. The ICG found that the other major insurgent organisation, the Pashtun Haqqani network, had been able to expand its influence from the country’s eastern provinces to Kabul and neighbouring provinces. It receives an “endless supply of predominantly Pashtun recruits” from the tribal region of Pakistan. The ICG alleged that the network operated “legitimate” construction and logistics businesses in the capital that it used to finance its military operations. The ICG report noted that the Haqqani organisation’s “proximity to Kabul now allows the network to mount sophisticated and complex attacks on high profile targets in the national capital.” Haqqani fighters stunned the occupation forces on June 28 by attacking the Intercontinental Hotel in the heart of Kabul while talks were reportedly taking place between American, Afghan, and Pakistani officials over possible peace negotiations with the Taliban. Some armed groups remained loyal to Hizb-e Islami (Islamic Party), which is led by Pashtun warlord and pre- Taliban Afghan Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. The ICG noted that numerous Hizb-e Islami figures had made their way into the Afghan Army and that the organisation had 49 members in the national and provincial

parliaments. The report dismissed as “dubious” the claims of “legal” Hizb-e Islami personalities that they had no contact with Hekmatyar or the armed wing of the movement. The ICG report provides a stark contrast to the official and media depictions of the insurgents simply as “terrorists” and the absurd claims of US/NATO “progress.” The most important factor behind the entrenched resistance is deeply-felt opposition to foreign occupation and the US-backed puppet government headed by Karzai. The regular killing of civilians by NATO air strikes, combined with the vast increase in special forces raids under Obama, has intensified popular hatred. While there is no exact number, US military boasting over the past 18 months suggests that well over 5,000 Afghans have been assassinated in their homes by US, British and Australian death squads. Thousands more people have been brutally interrogated or hauled away to imprisonment. The ICG noted the importance of the tribal Pashtunwali code―which demanded revenge against those who attacked ones’ tribe or family―in motivating resistance. Every special forces’ killing effectively recruited fresh forces for the insurgency. The report also pointed to the mass unemployment facing young Afghans and the destruction of property during occupation military operations as other factors fuelling the insurgency. The ICG drew attention to the opening up of hundreds of new madrasses―Islamic schools―and official and “unofficial” mosques across Afghanistan, but especially in the areas surrounding Kabul. In a country where much of the population is illiterate, these institutions provided a ready-made network for religious and nationalist agitation against the occupation. The report alleged that some clerics facilitated the insurgency by “storing weapons and sheltering fighters.” The ICG recommendations suggest that the broad hatred of the occupation can be stemmed by purging corruption from the Afghan government, security forces and business elite. The pervasive corruption itself reflects the fact that no section of Afghan society believes a US-backed puppet regime will survive as soon as foreign forces scale down or leave. The invasion of Afghanistan is a debacle for the NATO alliance―of no less magnitude than the failure of the Soviet invasion in the 1980s. In the final analysis, the ICG report dovetails with the opposition to even small troop withdrawals that has been expressed by sections of the American military and political establishment. The only answer of the Pentagon and figures like Senator John McCain to the entrenched resistance of the Afghan people is more killing and repression. There is every indication, however, that the Obama administration and its European allies are pursuing a different course of action. After nearly a decade of war, the occupying powers are growing desperate to end the conflict while realising at least the main predatory objectives of the invasion. The real power in Afghanistan lies not with Karzai’s government but with what the ICG described as a “nexus” of Islamist and tribal insurgent militias, corrupt officials, criminal syndicates and business oligarchs. Behind the peace talks reportedly taking place with elements of the Taliban is a clear intent to make a sordid deal that will bestow international “legitimacy” on this situation―in exchange for the insurgent leaderships betraying the Afghan people and agreeing to the US demands for access to Afghanistan’s resources and permanent military bases to further Washington’s economic and strategic ambitions in Central and South Asia. http://wsws.org/articles/2011/jul2011/afgh-j05.shtml

Suicide Attacks in Kabul: a Sign of Things to Come? By Aryn BakerAug. 19, 2011Add a Comment

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Afghan special police forces arrive at the site of a suicide attack outside The British Council in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 19, 2011. (Photo: Dar Yasin / AP)

While the death toll may have been mercifully low this time around, today’s attack caps a weeklong rampage that has seen some four dozen Afghans killed by insurgents across the country. On Thursday a pair of roadside mines planted in two different villages in the western province of Herat killed 24. In Paktia, south of Kabul, a suicide bomber attempted to ram his explosive laden vehicle into the gates of a US military base, killing two Afghan security guards and nine Afghan laborers standing outside. On Wednesday in the southern province of Oruzgan, a motorcycle bomb detonated in a market, killing five, while two others were killed in Helmand by a roadside bomb. Tuesday saw the drive-by shooting of a young Afghan woman in Kandahar who was on her way to work. And on Sunday, three afghan security guards were killed when the Taliban attempted, and failed, to enter a Kandahar fuel depot with an explosives-laden truck.

(PHOTOS: The Battle Against the Taliban)

These attacks, combined with numbers from a recent UN report detailing civilian casualties in Afghanistan for the first half of 2011, offer a searing challenge to U.S. and NATO assertions that the country is moving towards greater stability. Nearly 1500 non-combatants died, up 15% from the same

period last year, and the UN attributes at least 80% of those deaths to insurgent attacks. (The Taliban, of course, deny this, but according to the UN report, the increase is largely due to Improvised Explosive Devices and suicide attackers who fail to reach their intended targets, and detonate among civilians instead). As Erica Gaston of the Open Society Institute points out in a recent post on Foreign Policy “the statistics are a grim reality check to over-optimistic reports by international military and civilian leaders that their strategy is successfully disrupting insurgent activities.” That strategy has evolved from the winning-hearts-and-minds counter insurgency doctrine of 2008-2010 into a full embrace of targeted kill-and-capture operations, including the very unpopular night raids—some 20 a night on average, Gaston estimates. Yet the supposed success of those raids has done little to decrease the violence; 2011 is by far the bloodiest year since the start of the war.

(MORE: Afghan Counterinsurgency: When Everything Is Personal)

If anything, the significant increase in suicide attacks is less a sign of desperation than an indication that the Taliban are so confident in their ability to recruit “martyrdom” volunteers that they are willing to expend them on dubious targets at a time of the day when they are least likely to get the foreign casualties they so covet. So even if the Taliban didn’t intentionally pick a British target on the anniversary of Afghanistan’s independence from Britain, there is still strong symbolism in today’s attack: The Taliban are in the capital, and they can strike where they want, when they want. For residents of Kabul, and Afghanistan at large, that hardly seems like a sign of weakness.

(PHOTOS: Coalition Raid Ends Attack on a Kabul Hotel)

Aryn Baker is TIME’s Middle East Bureau Chief, based in Beirut. Find her on Twitter at @arynebaker. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook pageand on Twitter at @TIMEWorld.

Aryn Baker @arynebaker Aryn Baker is the Middle East Bureau Chief for TIME, covering politics, society, culture, religion, the arts and the military in the greater Middle East, including Pakistan and Afghanistan. She currently resides in Beirut, Lebanon.

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The Kabul attack shows the insurgency is as potent as ever The day after the US ambassador claimed traffic is Kabul's 'biggest problem', the Taliban sweeps away hopeful talk of progress

Policemen arrive at the site of a rocket-propelled attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. Photograph: Omar Sobhani/Reuters

As insurgents carried out coordinated attacks in three areas of Kabul today, taking over a tall building overlooking the central diplomatic compounds and firing rocket-propelled grenades down on the US embassy, the Taliban were sending out text messages to journalists giving a blow by blow account of the assault. Reports from the US compound said that hundreds of diplomats and staff had taken shelter in the embassy bunker. Presumably among them was the ambassador, Ryan Crocker, who was quoted in yesterday's Washington Post as saying: "It's better than I thought. The biggest problem in Kabul is traffic." Today, the Taliban gave western officials something to keep their minds off city centre congestion. Crocker was appealing for 'strategic patience' back home, and offering evidence of progress. By carrying out a complex attack in the heart of the capital, the insurgents are seeking to demonstrate that such claims are illusory. Security in Kabul has been fully transferred to Afghan control, and in the midst of the attack, the Nato secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, was tweeting that he was "confident Afghan authorities can deal with the situation". But the people of Kabul will be asking why this is taking so long, and wondering what happened to the security forces' vaunted 'ring of steel', the checkpoints and blast barriers around the city centre which were the partial cause of the traffic jams troubling Crocker. Underlying those questions is a deeper sense of anxiety over what will happen once western combat troops leave in 2014. Rasmussen also tweeted that "Taliban trying to test transition but will not be able to stop it. Transition on track." That is a near certainty because the US and western European publics cannot stomach any more. But that does not translate into confidence the Afghan army and police can fill the vacuum. The fear of a return to the chaos of the nineties is tangible in Kabul and beyond. The real concern is that such attacks are a taste of what is to come, not the death throes of the insurgency. Today's attack does not necessarily mean that the Taliban is opposed to talking peace. On the contrary, it could be a show of strength with future negotiations in mind. Mullah Omar's Eid message at the end of August, acknowledging contacts with the Americans and raising the possibility of power sharing, was widely seen as a significant change in tone, and not just by professionally optimistic western diplomats. The Pakistani writer, Ahmed Rashid, described it as the "most forward-looking political message" the Taliban leader had ever sent. By acknowledging that there have been contacts with the Americans, Mullah Omar is sending a clear message to his fighters that future political talks are a possibility, while signaling to the Americans that he may eventually be prepared to broaden the scope of the dialogue and those already participating in it. Rashid says his sources insist the contacts between Washington and the Taliban are continuing, contrary to widespread reports that the Omar confidante, Tayyab Agha, had gone missing after his involvement in secret talks in the Gulf and in Germany was revealed in the press. That might explain the reported US backing for the opening of a Taliban political office in Qatar. Or that could simply reflect desperation to have some concrete 'deliverable' to announce at the Bonn conference on Afghanistan in December. It is far from clear who would staff any such office, or the extent to which they would represent Mullah Omar and the rest of the Quetta Shura. The other, deepening unknown is whether this old-school leadership can 'deliver' the insurgents carrying out attacks like today's. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/julian-borger-global-security-blog/2011/sep/13/kabul-taliban- afghanistan 96

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A recent history of 'sophisticated' insurgent attacks in Kabul Today's attacks are insignificant from a tactical perspective, but they are part of a steady increase of assaults – sending a message that the Taliban-led insurgency can reach deep into the capital.

By Dan Murphy, Staff writer / September 13, 2011

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Dust rises after firing by Taliban militants in Kabul, Afghanistan on Tuesday, Sept. 13. Taliban insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles at the US Embassy, NATO headquarters and other buildings in the heart of the Afghan capital.

Ahmad Nazar/AP Enlarge

The attacks in Kabul today were "sophisticated" (the term used to describe attacks that involve multiple locations and weapons), lasted for hours, and ... are completely insignificant from a tactical perspective.

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Recent posts There were claims of mortars fired at NATO headquarters in Kabul and of rocket-propelled grenades flying over the roof the US Embassy, just across the street in the same secured compound. Some expatriates locked themselves in safe-rooms before Afghan forces, supported by NATO helicopters, brought the situation largely under control. As of this writing, a few attackers appeared to be alive and holed up in a half-completed high rise, but the writing was on the wall for them. What does any of this mean, a few days after US Ambassador Ryan Crocker told The Washington Post that "The biggest problem in Kabul is traffic?" Clearly not much in isolation. The Afghan government's early reports are that three policemen and perhaps one civilian were killed when 97

insurgents raided a building site near the embassy compound and simultaneously moved on an Afghan Border Police base in a different part of town. A school bus was hit by an RPG, but early reports were that none of the children were killed. But the point of such attacks is symbolism, sending a message that the Taliban-led insurgency can reach deep into the capital. The more frequently such tactically insignificant attacks can be carried out, the more support the Taliban hope to generate for a narrative of a US-backed government whose control is slipping. An Associated Press tally of attacks in Kabul this year and last counts nine attacks in 2010 and 11 so far this year, including today's. As best as I can make out, there were seven major attacks in the capital in 2009, and five in 2008. An attack on central Kabul, as paltry as its results were, is always notable. The trend is one of steady increase – though the numbers are still small, and can reflect a shift in emphasis by insurgent groups as much as they do any major increase in capabilities. But the terror felt by many today will dominate Afghan and foreign conversations in Kabul for days to come – far more than worries about the city's traffic.

Follow Dan Murphy on Twitter.

Get daily or weekly updates from CSMonitor.com delivered to your inbox. Sign up today. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Backchannels/2011/0913/A-recent-history-of-sophisticated- insurgent-attacks-in-Kabul

US: Kabul attacks a propaganda win for insurgents US: Kabul attacks a propaganda win for insurgents Ambassador calls 20-hour gunbattle that left 27 dead 'not a big deal' from military standpoint Below:

Musadeq Sadeq / AP

A NATO helicopter flies around a building during a gunbattle with Taliban militants in Kabul on Wednesday.

NBC, msnbc.com and news services updated 9/14/2011 5:44:17 PM ET

Musadeq Sadeq / AP

People cheer after a building was cleared of militants on Wednesday in Kabul.

Story: US: Kabul attacks a propaganda win for insurgents

Police could be seen clapping their hands in celebration on the roof of the high-rise. Others carried the mangled bodies of insurgents down flights of rough concrete stairs and piled them into the back of a waiting ambulance. Although the Taliban claimed responsibility for Tuesday's assault, U.S. and Afghan officials said the Haqqani network likely carried it out on their behalf. The Haqqanis have emerged as one of the biggest threats to Afghanistan's stability, working from lawless areas across the border in Pakistan's tribal region. Nearly all Taliban attacks in and around the Afghan capital have been executed by the Haqqanis, who are also allied with al-Qaida. The Haqqani network was also blamed for a weekend truck bombing in eastern Wardak province that wounded 77 U.S. soldiers. Advertise | AdChoices

"It's tough when you're trying to fight an insurgency that has a lot of support outside the national borders," U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker said. "It's complicated, it's difficult but clearly for a long- term solution those safe havens have to be reduced."

Story: Infiltration? Taliban attacks in Kabul raise questions

U.S. officials have been pressing Pakistan to go after Haqqani militants. But relations with Islamabad have not been good, particularly after the U.S. raid in May that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. Crocker said Tuesday's attack would not affect the transfer of security responsibilities from the U.S.- led military coalition to the Afghan security forces. Foreign forces are to completely withdraw combat troops by the end of 2014.

PhotoBlog: Cheers as Taliban attack is ended after 20 hours

U.S. Marine Corps Gen. John Allen, the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said the assault did not mean that Afghan security forces weren't doing their job, arguing that potential attacks are thwarted in Kabul nearly every day. However, he did allow that the violent standoff gave the Taliban the headlines they wanted. "I'll grant that they did get an IO (Information Operations) win," Allen told reporters in the capital. NATO's senior civilian representative, Simon Gass, called the attack "extremely frightening even for the citizens of Kabul." Both men argued that the insurgents depend on these spectacular attacks because they can't take and hold ground. "This really is not a very big deal," Crocker said. "If that's the best they can do, you know, I think it's actually a statement of their weakness." The fighting around the high-rise at the Abdul Haq traffic circle finally ended about 9:30 a.m. after a night of roaring helicopters, gunshots and tracers streaking through the sky.

Story: Infiltration? Taliban attacks in Kabul raise questions

The Afghan Interior Ministry announced that the final two holdouts in the 12-story concrete building had been killed and police officers could be seen clapping their hands in celebration on the roof of the building. But the coordinated strikes raised fresh doubts about the Afghans' ability to secure their nation as U.S. and other foreign troops begin to withdraw. Afghan forces have nominally been in control of security in the capital since 2008, but still depend heavily on foreign forces to help protect the city and assist when it comes under attack.

Story: Report: Taliban to be brought in from the cold

And spectacular attacks in the heavily guarded capital have now become more common. This week's strike was the third deadly attack in Kabul since late June. No NATO or U.S. Embassy employees were hurt in the latest attack, though Crocker said six or seven rockets had hit inside the embassy compound. Four Afghans were wounded when a rocket-propelled grenade hit one of the embassy buildings, CIA Director David Petraeus told lawmakers in Washington.

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The rockets were fired from far enough away that Crocker did not consider them a serious attack on the embassy, he said according to an interview transcript provided to journalists in the Afghan capital. "We're still trying to count them up but I'd say roughly six, seven. But again, they were firing from at least 800 meters (874 yards) away and with an RPG that's harassment. That's not an attack," he said. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/44514380/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/t/us-kabul-attacks- propaganda-win-insurgents/#.UafVb9KzJI4

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Infiltration? Taliban attacks in Kabul raise questions Proximity to US embassy in city’s most secure zone shows 'great deal of penetration' Below:

Daud Yardost / AFP - Getty Images

By Zubair Babakarkhail and Ben Arnoldy

Christian Science Monitor updated 9/13/2011 7:22:03 PM ET

 Kabul, Afghanistan; and New Delhi — Gunmen stormed a high-rise building under construction in the Afghan capital Tuesday afternoon, raining rockets and small-arms fire on the nearby US embassy and homes of the elite. Other fighters raided an Afghan Border Police base across town. Fighting continues several hours later, but initial reports indicate no embassy or NATO staff have been wounded, while six Afghans have been killed and 15 more injured.

Story: Attack on Kabul ends after 20 hours of fighting

Insurgents have targeted Kabul landmarks before, but this attack’s proximity to the city’s most secure zone further undermines confidence in the government’s ability to take over security from withdrawing international forces. In particular, the attack raises questions about Taliban infiltration into the ranks of even the most sensitive forces. "We’ve suspected for quite awhile that the Taliban have deeply penetrated the Afghan security forces … but to be able to do this in this secure zone shows a great deal of penetration," says Kamran Bokhari, an analyst with Stratfor, a Texas-based intelligence analysis firm. He says the intent of an attack like this is to sow seeds of mistrust. "It becomes more and more difficult for international forces to trust their Afghan counterparts."

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Musadeq Sadeq / AP

The unfinished building in Kabul where Taliban insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles at the U.S. embassy, NATO headquarters and other buildings in the heart of the Afghan capital on Tuesday.

The attack began in the early afternoon with an unknown number of fighters taking over a partially constructed high-rise building about 300 meters from the US embassy. Intended to be a shopping mall, the roughly 14-story building is mostly just cement without windows or doors. A small school bus parked along a nearby road appeared heavily damaged, with children’s book bags still in the backseats. Nearby, shopkeeper Abdul Wasi says the school minivan was fleeing the fighting in the area packed with kids. He heard a blast followed by the shattering of glass, but when he reached the bus he didn’t see any children injured. Story: Pentagon: Insurgent group behind Afghan bombing

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"All the time we feel in danger," says Mr. Wasi. "How come the Taliban can get into a building during the day when everyone can see them bringing their weapons? The security forces are sleeping and are not putting attention to this bad situation in Kabul." Other Afghans echo his frustration. Fouzia Jahani, a woman who works in a nearby government ministry, spoke hurriedly as she rushed home to soothe her worried family. "We are fed up with this kind of situation in Kabul. In all my life I’ve seen this kind of situation in Kabul. May Allah help us to get rid of this," she says. In the premier neighborhood of Wazir Akbar Khan, which abuts the US embassy, wealthy families crammed into cars and fled. Security forces shut many of the roads around the capital, however, forcing large numbers of people to evacuate offices and homes on foot.

1. More world news from the Christian Science Monitor "For me, I’ve grown up in such situations, but it was really bad for my kids," saysShukria Barakzai, a leading member of Parliament whose house came under fire. "Still they are under shock, they can’t believe such a thing has happened." The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says the targets were the headquarters of the international military forces, the Afghanistan spy agency, and the American embassy. "Mujahideens are targeting only military bases and residential areas of the enemy. Civilians are not allowed to live or roam free in that area," he says. This article, "Taliban attacks near US embassy in Kabul raise questions of infiltration," first appeared on CSMonitor.com. © 2012 Christian Science Monitor http://www.nbcnews.com/id/44505319/ns/world_news- christian_science_monitor/t/infiltration-taliban-attacks-kabul-raise-questions/#.UafaYdKzJI4

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Afghan ex-leader's death threatens peace Former President Burhanuddin Rabbani's assassination marks another setback for current ruler Hamid Karzai.

Erin Cunningham September 20 2011 15:55

Afghan police stand guard outside Rabbani's home after his assassination. (Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images) KABUL, Afghanistan — Former Afghan president and chief negotiator for peace talks with the Taliban, Burhanuddin Rabbani, was killed Tuesday in a suicide attack at his home in the capital, Kabul. The assassination of Rabbani, 71, a polarizing but influential figure in Afghan politics, marks a serious setback for the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Rabbani was serving as the chief of the Afghan government’s High Peace Council — a body tasked with spearheading peace negotiations with Taliban insurgents — and was a key ally of the United States and Karzai. “The Taliban sent a clear message to the government of President Karzai with this attack: We are not going to talk to you. We reject any type of peace negotiations with you,” said Mir Ahmad Joyenda, an Afghan member of parliament. From Kabul: Deceptive calm after attack “The Taliban sent a clear message to Karzai with this attack: We are not going to talk to you.” ~Mir Ahmad Joyenda, an Afghan member of parliament “I think from now on, the Karzai government will change its policy toward the peace process,” he added. Rabbani was killed Tuesday evening by a suicide bomber posing as a reformed Taliban fighter seeking to make peace with the government. The attacker, who reportedly met Rabbani at his home in Kabul, detonated a bomb hidden in his turban as he greeted the former president. Four of Rabbani’s bodyguards were also killed in the blast. The Taliban, normally eager to claim responsibility for high-level or spectacular attacks, were conspicuously unavailable for comment, and as of late Tuesday night did not release a statement on the assassination. “Those responsible for this attack show their disregard for the efforts that Dr. Rabbani led in the cause of peace for Afghanistan,” a statement from the U.S. embassy in Kabul said. “This kind of cowardly attack will only harden our resolve to work together with the Afghan government and people to end the insurgency and realize a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan,” it read. The attack, which comes as NATO troops begin their gradual withdrawal from Afghanistan and U.S. officials laud direct talks with the Taliban, appears to have struck at the heart of the U.S.-funded and government-backed peace process here. Rabbani, a fierce anti-Taliban commander in the 1990s, was appointed to broker a peace deal with the Taliban one year ago. Since then, little headway has been made in persuading Taliban fighters to lay down arms and join the Afghan government.

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From Kabul: 10 years on, Afghanistan not far from where it started While the U.S.-led coalition transfers security responsibilities to Afghan forces in seven key areas, violence is on the rise. This is the deadliest year for Afghan civilians since the war began in 2001, according to the United Nations. Rabbani, an ethnic Tajik whose official presidential term from 1992-1996 was marred by bloody Afghan infighting that eventually swept the Taliban to power, was a reviled figure not only among the ethnic Pashtuns that make-up the Taliban ranks but among ordinary Afghans who saw him as an opportunistic warlord who presided over mass atrocities. “One less warlord in this country, even though we have thousands more to go,” said Mohammed, a former Afghan interpreter for U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan. “I don’t care whether or not someone is anti-Taliban,” Mohammed said. “Thousands of people were killed under his rule. And he acted like he was going to save Afghanistan.” Not only will Rabbani’s death weaken Karzai, who has seen some of his most trusted advisors assassinated by Taliban insurgents in recent months, but it will also likely fracture the already virulently anti-Taliban groups in the north, analysts say. PlanetPic: Faces of the Afghan army Many Rabbani-linked Tajik strongmen in the northern provinces — and who opposed peace talks with the largely Pashtun Taliban from the outset — may use Rabbani’s death to strengthen and re-arm ethnic-based militias that would fight not only the Taliban but an Afghan government ready to negotiate with the Islamists, according to observers. Following the news of Rabbani’s death, the Tajik governor of Afghanistan’s northern Balkh province, Atta Mohammed Noor, told local news channel TOLO TV that the government “could not have peace with the Taliban.” “Many key northern leaders were already vocally skeptical of Rabbani’s nominal pro-negotiation stance,” said one Western political analyst based in Kabul. “If the Karzai government continues to pursue talks, we can expect an angrier, more alienated and possibly re-armed north.” http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/war/afghanistan-war/110920/afghan-leader-president-burhanuddin-rabbani- hamid-karzai-taliban-attack-kabul

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National Security Home>Collections>Attack Taliban strike in Kabul shows insurgency’s growing reliance on high- profile attacks in Afghan capital By Joshua Partlow and Greg Jaffe,October 29, 2011

View Photo Gallery - Troops and civilians killed in suicide blast targeting bus in Kabul: A… KABUL — The Taliban attack in Kabul on Saturday that killed at least 12 Americans, a Canadian and four Afghans highlights the insurgents’ growing reliance on high-profile bombings in the capital and targeted assassinations that seem designed to destroy Afghans’ confidence in their struggling government. A vehicle laden with explosives swerved into an armored U.S. military bus, resulting in one of the deadliest strikes aimed at Americans in Kabul in the past decade, according to U.S. military and Afghan officials. The American and Canadian dead included five soldiers and eight civilian contractors. The attack was the latest in a series of spectacular and frequently suicidal assaults in major cities against government and military targets. In recent weeks, Taliban fighters waged a prolonged gun-and-grenade battle aimed at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and killed a key Afghan peace envoy and former president in a suicide bomb attack. The shift in Taliban strategy has been driven, in part, by the addition of 30,000 U.S. troops who have pushed insurgent fighters out of their rural havens in the south and made it harder for them to attack front-line U.S. combat forces. In the wake of Saturday’s attack, U.S. commanders sought to highlight their gains over the past year. Gen. John R. Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said the bombing was designed “to hide the fact that [the Taliban] are losing territory, support and the will to fight.” But the attacks in the previously safe capital also highlight the Taliban’s resilience at a time when the United States is beginning a gradual drawdown of its forces in the country and trying to press forward with stalled peace talks. U.S. officials in recent months have held preliminary talks with the Taliban and the affiliated Haqqani network, both of which operate out of sanctuaries in Pakistan. The American strategy envisions continued military pressure combined with a sustained push to jump-start reconciliation talks and grow Afghanistan’s army and police force. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton last week described the approach as “fight, talk, build.” Saturday’s suicide bombing is likely to bolster critics who have insisted that the prospects of reconciliation with the Taliban remain remote. In testimony Thursday, Clinton acknowledged meeting with a representative of the Haqqani network, which has been behind most of the high-profile Kabul attacks and has links to Pakistan’s intelligence service.

Asked how the network had responded, she said that the answer was “an attack on our embassy.” A week later, a suicide bomber killed former president Burhanuddin Rabbani, the head of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council. A senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record, said it is unrealistic to expect that the Taliban would scale back attacks in advance of serious peace negotiations. “What do you expect?” the official said. “They are in a war. We are aggressively trying to kill Taliban and Haqqani [fighters], and they are trying to kill us.” 106

Frequent convoys in capital Until recently, violence in Kabul, particularly against U.S. troops, had been rare. American forces do not regularly patrol in the capital, leaving the job to Afghan soldiers and police officers. U.S. soldiers and civilians, however, frequently move between their headquarters and other bases in Kabul. The suicide bombing Saturday targeted one such convoy, exploding against a large armored bus as it passed the private American University. Shrapnel sprayed across a four-lane highway and reduced the armored bus to smoking wreckage. The Taliban asserted responsibility for the bombing, claiming that 1,500 pounds of explosives had been used. The U.S. death toll was the highest in a single incident since Aug. 6, when insurgents shot down a Chinook helicopter in Wardak province, killing 30 U.S. Special Operations troops and eight Afghans. The most recent suicide attack took place not far from Darulaman palace, the bombed-out former kings’ residence that sits on a hill on the city’s western outskirts. The highway is routinely traveled by NATO convoys, and insurgents have targeted them before, as in a May 2010 bombing that killed 18 people, including five U.S. troops. After the Saturday blast, U.S. and Afghan troops blocked off the road as they cleaned up the wreckage and ferried casualties to hospitals. At least four Afghans died, including one policeman, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. A hospital official in Kabul said eight other people were wounded. The Associated Press reported that a Canadian soldier was among the five troops killed. Also Saturday, a man in an Afghan army uniform opened fire at a NATO-Afghan base in the southern province of Uruzgan, killing three Australian troops. New limits on Americans http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-10-29/world/35276935_1_taliban-strike-haqqani-network-taliban-attack

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Afghan insurgency: 13 US troops killed in ‘deadliest ground attack’ in Kabul By Agencies Published: October 30, 2011

Afghanistan’s security forces, rescue personnel and NATO troops secure the site after a suicide attack near the Darul Amn palace in Kabul. PHOTO: AFP

KABUL/WASHINGTON: In the deadliest single ground attack in the 10-year-long Afghan war, 13 American troops operating under Nato were killed in a car bomb attack on a military convoy in the Afghan capital on Saturday. The day also saw the gunning down of three Australian army trainers by an Afghan soldier in the south of the country. “We can confirm that 13 International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) members have died,” said an Isaf spokesman in Kabul, giving no further details. A Pentagon spokesman later confirmed all 13 soldiers killed were American. Three civilians and a police officer were also killed in the attack on a convoy of military vehicles, a spokesman for the Afghan interior ministry said. A Taliban spokesperson claimed responsibility for what he called a suicide attack on a bus carrying foreign troops. “Our suicide bomber, Abdur Rehman Hazarbuz, rammed his vehicle packed with 700 kilogrammes of explosives into the bus in the Darul Amn area of Kabul,” Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement. He claimed that the bus was completely destroyed and all 25 people on board were killed. Excluding aircraft crashes, it was the deadliest single incident for foreign troops since the war began in 2001. In mid-August, 30 US troops, including 25 Special Operations Forces, were killed when their Chinook helicopter was shot down by the Taliban in Wardak province. Thick black smoke could be seen rising from a fire still raging at the scene, cordoned off by Afghan and Isaf soldiers, while fire hoses were putting out another blaze nearby. Nato’s coalition forces were seen carrying the charred bodies of some of those killed away on stretchers from the wreckage of the bombed bus. In the southern Uruzgan province, an Afghan soldier opened fire on foreign forces, killing three Australian army trainers. The alliance force said two service members were killed and one other later died of his injuries after “an individual wearing an Afghan National Army uniform apparently turned his weapon on Afghan and coalition forces.” It said the shooter was also killed in the incident but gave no further details. General Abdul Hameed, commander of 205 Atal corps in the south said an Afghan soldier with three years’ experience had carried out the shooting. He said six other Australian troops and one Afghan officer had been wounded. “At around 8:30 this morning an ANA soldier named Darwish who had been serving as an ANA soldier for the past three years opened fire on a group of Australian military officers, killing three of them and injuring six others as well as one ANA officer,” said Hameed. Published in The Express Tribune, October 30th, 2011. http://tribune.com.pk/story/284613/suicide-attack-on-nato-convoy-in-kabul-casualties-reported/

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Articles concerning the security situation in Kabul 2012 Taliban's 'spring offensive' reminds Kabul of insurgents' reach Simultaneous attacks on embassies, Nato HQ and parliament marks group's most ambitious strike  Emma Graham-Harrison in Kabul guardian.co.uk,  Sunday 15 April 2012 21.56 BST

Smoke rises from the site of an attack near the Afghan parliament in Kabul. Taliban launched multiple attacks in the capital on Sunday. Photograph: Reuters

When crackles of Kalashnikov fire interrupted his afternoon language class, Taghi Sefari barely looked up from his books. Kabul is, after all, a city used to violence. But when three loud blasts echoed through the school moments later, the veneer of calm shattered. "The boys and girls ran out, some were crying, some were screaming," 14 year-old Sefari said several hours later, as heavy machine-gun fire still echoed around the Afghan parliament, target of perhaps the most ambitious Taliban attacks on Kabul in more than a decade. "When we were running away, a rocket hit the street, and one classmate was wounded. Blood started pouring from his head, and the police took him to hospital." As reports multiplied of gunfire and explosions proliferating across the city, residents scrambled to work out what was going on. An attack on an aviation college; rockets fired at embassy compounds; assaults on government buildings. Parents raced to call children; friends called friends. Around two dozen fighters had launched a "spring offensive" that the Taliban said was months in the planning. Despite heavy fortifications around Kabul's diplomatic district their rockets hit the German and Japanese embassies and the gate of a British residence, causing damage but no injuries. The toll after eight hours of fighting was low: the head of Kabul's hospitals said 12 people were wounded, and none killed. The interior ministry reported deaths of nearly two dozen insurgents, although witnesses saw the bodies of at least two members of the security forces being carried away. The ambitious, heavily guarded targets, and the co-ordination of multiple blatant attacks in Kabul and across another swath of the country were a pointed reminder of the insurgency's reach. Trapped Kabul residents milled around the edge of the embassy district hoping the gunfire would end soon. Masi Ahmadi, 13, borrowed a phone to call home and tell his mother that he and his younger brother had left their school and couldn't get home, but weren't in any danger. Eighteen year-old Abdul Jalil waited to see if his mother, locked in nearby offices that insurgents tried to breach, was OK. In a city where many lives are laced with tragedy, Jalil had endured a more painful brush with the Taliban when a suicide attack on an internet cafe killed his only brother seven years ago. "I was happy when he was alive," Jalil said, as children peeked around a street corner to watch sweating commandos rush towards the insurgent stronghold, then darted back as gunfire started up again. The attacks were confronted almost entirely by Afghan police and soldiers, who have needed heavy support handling past attacks, but on Sunday had assistance only from a few permanent Norwegian mentors. Their efforts were hailed by Nato and the Afghan government. "I am enormously proud of how quickly Afghan security forces responded to today's attacks in Kabul," said General John Allen, the top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan. He said offers of foreign help had been declined so far, despite exchanges of gunfire on Sunday night. "I consider it a testament to their skill and professionalism – of how far they've come – that they haven't yet asked for that support," he added. At least one member of parliament from the Taliban's home province of Kandahar also joined the battle, borrowing an assault rifle from a policeman and taking to the roof of the legislature building. "I'm the representative of my people and I have to defend them," Mohammad Naeem Lalai Hamidzai told Reuters.

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Near the parliament a crackling police radio warned of a possible suicide vehicle packed with explosives and disguised as an ambulance, and a policeman's fighting partridge, terrified by hours of explosions, hurled itself frantically against the bars of a wooden cage. Brickwork and steel columns of the insurgents' temporary stronghold poked above the Kabul trees, and commandos who had taken over security in the area shooed away the few curious bystanders. "My parents don't know I am out," admitted 11 year-old Edrees, as smoke rose from the occupied building. "I told them I went to my friend's house, and they think we are still inside." But away from the immediate danger, Kabulis went about their business ignoring the distant rattle of guns. "The fighters are doing their fighting and I'm staying here to do my business," said 29-year-old Khalilullah, who kept his Perfect Special Juice stall open, despite the shuttered and padlocked store-fronts of competitors. "I grew up in a war." Mokhtar Amiri contributed to this report http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/15/taliban-kabul-spring-offensive

Taliban attack: Kabul insurgency over after 18-hour assault Get short URL

Published time: April 16, 2012 02:37 Edited time: April 16, 2012 15:59ke rises from the site of an attack near the Afghan parliament in Kabul Afghanistan, Conflict, Military, Terrorism

Government forces and coalition helicopters have finally put an end to insurgents’ 18-hour attacks in Afghanistan. The Taliban-claimed raid on Kabul’s diplomatic area and three eastern cities was the most serious since the Taliban was ousted in 2001. Afghan Interior Minister Besmillah Mohammadi told reporters on Monday that a total of 36 insurgents were killed. Three civilians also lost their lives, and 32 others were wounded. 11 officers were killed and 42 wounded among the Afghan security forces. One of the insurgents arrested by police said that the Al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, based in Pakistan, was behind the attacks. The assault on the parliament, foreign embassies, airport and residences was overcome by heavy gunfire from Afghan-led forces and pre-dawn air assaults from US-led coalition helicopters. Fighting raged near the parliament throughout the night and early Monday morning. Witnesses said rocket- propelled grenades and gunfire rocked the area. An Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman said some lawmakers grabbed weapons and started fighting back the militants sheltering in nearby buildings. The NATO headquarters, British, German and Japanese embassies, as well as the residence of the British ambassador were also under attack. Explosions caused minor damage to the German and British embassies, but no staff were injured. Outside the capital, militants attacked government buildings in Logar province, the airport in Jalalabad, and a police facility in the town of Gardez in Paktya province, where a NATO helicopter was reportedly deployed against them. Three militants were arrested on allegations of plotting to kill President Karzai's deputy, Mohammad Karim Khalili. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault shortly after it started on Sunday. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said dozens of suicide attackers and gunmen were involved in the raids that had been planned for two months. The aim was to show the insurgents’ power after NATO called the Taliban weak, saying there was no indication the militants were planning a spring offensive. ``We are strong and we can attack anywhere we want,''Mujahid said. The Taliban said the attacks came in retaliation for recent incidents when US marines burned the Koran, were shown urinating on dead Afghans and for the Kandahar massacre, when 17 Afghan civilians were killed by a US soldier. The American Ambassador said the violence showed why the US should not try to hasten the exit from Afghanistan. The majority of international combat troops are scheduled to leave by the end of 2014.http://rt.com/news/fighting-afghan-interior-ministry-116/

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Analysis: What Kabul attacks say about Afghan security By Bilal SarwaryBBC News, Kabul 16 April 2012 Last updated at 13:20

What do the attacks reveal about Afghanistan's security forces? The residents of central Kabul would have experienced a chilling sense of deja vu on Sunday as the first shots that rang out rapidly escalated into a multi-pronged assault on the city. Just over six months ago insurgents targeted the US embassy in the last major co-ordinated attack on Kabul. Then, as now, fighters took up position in a building under construction that offered them a launch-pad for their attack. Many of the elements of the attack are strikingly similar and many of the unanswered questions remain . Insurgents managed to stockpile vast amounts of weaponry and ammunition inside the building they used to launch attacks . A large number of insurgents managed to penetrate the well-protected heart of the city in an operation that must have taken months to plan . Insurgents communicated with each other throughout the attack . Analysts believe both attacks bear the hallmarks of the Haqqani network - the Pakistan-based militant group What many ordinary Afghans are asking is not how could this happen but how could this happen again?

High-profile attacks on Kabul

. 15 April 2012: Seven sites including parliament, Nato HQ and foreign embassies attacked . 13 September 2011: Gunman seize unfinished high-rise to fire on Nato HQ and US embassy . 19 August 2011: Gunman storm British Council HQ, killing 12 people What is different this time, more frightening for the city's residents and more chastening for the authorities, is that the militants managed to penetrate the most secure inner circle of Kabul's ring of steel - the Wazir Akbar Khan district. Across the road from the building where attackers based themselves is the highly sensitive intelligence installation, which is constantly under armed guard. There were also many more insurgents involved this time. Earlier this month a briefing by intelligence officials told journalists that the Taliban had lost the power to launch large-scale attacks. It is clear that this once again represents a serious security and intelligence failure - and also that lessons from previous attacks are difficult to act on. The Taliban have been eager to prove that they still have potency and this attack shows both a sophisticated level of co-ordination and that Kabul is not as secure as it needs to be.

Element of luck Many weapons were recovered by soldiers from the insurgents killed in Kabul Whose "victory" this was depends on who you are talking to. Nato have commended Afghan security forces for effectively defending the city and ultimately quelling the attack. But Afghan forces did need some back-up from helicopters and Nato special forces. Analysts argue that it is in Nato's interest to talk up the ability of Afghan forces to defend the city - it is after all what the exit strategy is predicated on. Simon Gass, Nato's senior civilian representative, told BBC News money spent thus far had been spent well, and that the Afghan police and army were "increasingly capable". But many point out that it was simply luck that Afghan forces spotted the insurgents - who launched their attack prematurely after they were forced to shoot a guard who tried to stop an SUV with fake plates speeding down a one-way road. And it was not an easy fight for the Afghan forces as insurgents took over buildings and also went into residential areas. A senior general in charge of an elite Western-trained unit was badly injured.

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Ordinary Afghans were also quick to take to the air waves asking questions. Why was it going on so long? How had forces had not been able to prevent the same mistake being made twice? The simultaneous attacks in the provinces also struck fear into Afghans who ask if Kabul's most secure district and provincial centres cannot be protected, what can? The message they appear to be sending out is that the government is weak. Privately, sources say that Afghan security agencies are involved in a blame game, pointing the finger at one another. Despite the rhetoric of not needing international support, this underlines dread about the future. If you listen to the Taliban version of events, however, this was a victory, showing how they could strike at will, when and where they chose. But they did lose the element of surprise they were hoping for when they were spotted prematurely and the area was evacuated quickly, which meant they could not inflict many casualties or enter their choicest targets.

Eyes on 2014 Many observers are blaming the Pakistan-based Haqqani network for this attack. And the question many are asking is what such attacks mean for talks with the Taliban. One senior presidential aide said that this particular group of fighters would always have an interest in launching an assault. He says it only proves that there are different Talibans: those who talk, those who fight and those who tread the middle path. The Haqqani network has also expanded its area of operation in Afghanistan - now operating in provinces closer to Kabul. There are several night raids each week targeting Haqqani fighters in these areas. It is easier to recruit insurgents from these restive areas close to Pakistan than send them up all the way from the Taliban's Kandahar heartland in the south. The implication is that if Taliban talks do become meaningful, there will always be a group willing to launch attacks. Western nations and leaders have argued that the surge has worked. But many Afghans are unsure and ask: if in 2012 insurgents can penetrate the very heart of Kabul in such a brazen way, what might they be capable of in 2014 when Nato troops are beginning to withdraw? http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17725266

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  WORLD NEWS  Updated April 16, 2012, 11:36 a.m. ET Afghan Insurgents Strike Across Nation Embassies, Parliament and Military Bases Are Hit in Kabul MORE IN WORLD » By DION NISSENBAUM and HABIB KHAN TOTAKHIL KABUL—Heavily armed insurgents staged attacks in Kabul and across Afghanistan on Sunday, in their largest assault on the capital since the Taliban were ousted from power more than a decade ago.

Reuters An Afghan soldier looks on as a NATO helicopter flies over the site of an attack in Jalalabad Sunday. The attacks on foreign embassies, Parliament and military bases in Kabul unfolded in rapid succession, halting normal life in the city. Gunfire and explosions, which emptied the streets during a normally busy workday, continued into the night. More than 14 hours after the attacks began, the U.S.-led military called in helicopter gunships to target holdout insurgents in two Kabul buildings as the fighting raged until dawn Monday. The coordinated violence in Kabul and the eastern cities of Gardez, Jalalabad and Pul-i-Alam, marked the first significant salvo from the Taliban insurgency this year as it tries to derail American plans to transfer responsibility for protecting the country to Afghan forces over the next two years. "This is our new tactic and is indicative of our strength," said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. "These attacks show that we are capable of launching major attacks and also show that there is cooperation with us from inside the government." While the Taliban took responsibility for Sunday's violence, which Mr. Mujahid called the opening salvo in this year's spring offensive, Western officials in Kabul said the coordinated strikes were most likely the work of the Haqqani network, an autonomous part of the Taliban movement that has been accused of staging the most devastating attacks on the Afghan capital in recent years. "My guess, based on previous experience here is that this was [the] Haqqani network operation out of North Waziristan and Pakistan tribal areas," U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker said on CNN.

Gunmen Attack Embassies in Afghan Capital

Gunmen launch multiple attacks in the Afghan capital Kabul, assaulting Western embassies and the parliament. Video: Reuters/Photo: Getty Images U.S. defense officials said they didn't want to play down the strikes, acknowledging they were relatively sophisticated and involved multiple, coordinated attacks. But at the same time, officials stressed that the attacks were ultimately unsuccessful. "It is an attention grabber, but it was not a game changer," said a senior defense official. While the attacks appeared to fall short of delivering significant casualties, they may have succeeded in sending a message that the insurgency can still strike in the very heart of the country, said Martine van Biljert, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, an independent Kabul-based think tank.

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Associated Press Afghan special forces carried a wounded colleague after a gun battle near the Afghan parliament in Kabul, Monday. "It's really aimed at the war of perceptions," she said. "You try to start the fighting season with a bang and wipe away the claims that the Taliban haven't been able to pull off their major offensive. It's much more symbolic than tactical." Two Afghan police officers were killed and at least 14 were injured during the attacks, Afghan officials said, along with 27 Afghan civilians injured. At least two Afghan university students were killed by insurgents during the Taliban assault in Gardez, local residents said. The Afghan government said at least 17 insurgents were killed and a dozen suspects were captured on Sunday. Most of the fighting in Kabul was done by the Afghan troops. Last week, a spokesman for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Kabul said that there was no intelligence to indicate the insurgency was planning a complex attack. Instead, German Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson told Reuters the insurgency was focusing on smaller attacks. Mr. Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, said Sunday's attacks were a pointed retort. U.S. officials hailed the response of Afghan security forces, describing the outcome of the fighting as a sign of progress. "I am enormously proud of how quickly Afghan security forces responded to today's attacks in Kabul," said U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, the coalition commander. "They were on scene immediately, well-led and well- coordinated. They integrated their efforts, helped protect their fellow citizens and largely kept the insurgents contained."

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Afghan MP Fawzia Koofi expects harsh and possibly violent opposition as her campaign gets underway to replace Hamid Karzai in the 2014 presidential elections. Video: Reuters Not all the Afghans, however, saw the Afghan response as a success, especially as much of the capital city remained paralyzed by the violence. Wazhma Frogh, a women's activist and executive director of a new think tank called the Research Institute for Women, Peace and Security, said Afghan police recklessly fired over the heads of civilians to disperse people in the early minutes of the attack. "I could feel the heat, the fire of the bullets whizzing over my head," said Ms. Frogh, who heard Afghan police officers at checkpoints joking about where to hide as the attack intensified. "Is this what transition is all about?" she asked. While U.S. officials praised the Afghan response, President Hamid Karzai made no public appearances and issued no statements about the pitched battle that raged in Kabul. Enlarge Image

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304432704577345292458771700.html

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Associated Press Kabul police fight back Sunday amid the largest assault on the capital since the ouster of the Taliban more than a decade ago. As the first sounds of explosions ripped through the capital early on Sunday, Afghans rushed for shelter and the U.S. Embassy's "duck and cover" alarm echoed through the diplomatic neighborhood that appeared to be the hardest hit. Insurgents armed with suicide vests, rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns commandeered high- rise construction sites in three locations across the capital. As the militants stormed the Kabul buildings, insurgents in three other provinces staged near-simultaneous attacks on U.S. military bases and Afghan government compounds. The most serious attack in the capital targeted the city's diplomatic quarter, where militants commandeered an unfinished, seven-story building overlooking embassies and U.S. military bases. From the building, insurgents fired rockets that exploded in the areas of the British, German, Japanese and Canadian embassies. They kept Afghan officials at bay for hours by wounding the occasional police officer with well-placed sniper shots. The insurgents used the same tactic in September, when they fired rockets at the U.S. Embassy and central Kabul from an unfinished building. Strawberry and apple carts were abandoned in the streets below the high-rise. Shattered cars and a sport-utility vehicle with its doors flung open sat on the road. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul said on Sunday that its staff was on lockdown as the attacks unfolded and that all of its personnel were accounted for and unhurt. U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague said all British Embassy staffers were safe. On the other side of town, insurgents stormed another construction site and started firing on the Afghan Parliament compound and nearby Russian Embassy. At least two lawmakers, including the deputy speaker of the lower house, grabbed machine guns and climbed to the roof as they tried to repel the attack. "If they are attacking the house of the nation, I have to fight them," said Lalai Hamidzai, one of the two lawmakers who fought off the attack. "We are representatives of the nation. It is the obligation of every Afghan to fight the war against terror." As the attack began in the early afternoon, one witness reported seeing six individuals enter a building under construction across from a military base on the outskirts of Kabul, and then start firing into the compound from the building's upper floors. One Afghan army soldier reported seeing smoke rising from the base. In Jalalabad, suicide bombers staged two attacks aimed at the U.S. military: In one, Afghan forces targeted an SUV with four suicide bombers near the military airport, detonating the vehicle before it could cause more-serious damage. A second targeted another base, causing some coalition and Afghan casualties, according to a Western official in Kabul. In Gardez, local officials said, the U.S.-led military coalition targeted a university building where insurgents were holed up. Coalition helicopters and jets pounded the building and reduced it to rubble, according to local officials. Yusaf Khan, a Paktia University student who said he witnessed the Gardez airstrikes, said 28 Afghan civilians, including women and children, were wounded in the coalition attack. A spokesman for the U.S.-led military coalition said there were no reports of civilian casualties caused by the airstrikes. In Pul-i-Alam, officials said four suicide bombers hit a school and a four more targeted a U.S. military base. —David Kaelin, Ziaulhaq Sultani and Julian E. Barnes contributed to this article. Write to Dion Nissenbaum at [email protected] A version of this article appeared April 16, 2012, on page A7 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Afghan Insurgents Attack Four Cities.

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Taliban insurgents attack popular Kabul resort; at least 20 killed

View Photo Gallery — Taliban attack lakeside hotel in Kabul: At least 15 are killed as suicide bombers take hostages and set off gunbattle with Afghan troops at scenic getaway.

By Joshua Partlow, Published: June 22The Washington Post KABUL — On a warm summer evening, with peacocks strutting amid the patio chairs and moonlight reflecting off the lake, the Spugmay Restaurant is one of the most elegant sanctuaries in Kabul, a place where the war feels almost far enough away. Seven young men changed that with sickening speed Thursday night. Armed with guns and grenades and explosives strapped over their baggy clothes, a minivan-load of Taliban fighters stormed through the ivy-draped restaurant’s arched gateway, transforming a relaxed evening on the water into another scene of smoke, blood and broken glass. Over the course of Thursday night and Friday morning, the insurgents executed diners and staff and fought a prolonged gun battle with security forces.

Taliban insurgents stormed a hotel north of the Afghan capital Kabul, killing at least 18 people and holding hostages. Afghan forces needed 12 hours to clear out the attackers and end the long standoff midday Friday. By the end, at least 20 people lay dead, including restaurant patrons, cooks, guards, police and all seven of the attackers, according to Kabul police chief Ayoub Salangi. But the insurgents proved once again that few places, even in the heavily policed capital, lie beyond their reach. The choice of targets — a restaurant frequented primarily by Afghan families — was somewhat unusual for the Taliban, which has tended to marshal its limited resources to assault symbols of government or U.S. military power, such as armored convoys, ministries or Western embassies. But the insurgents have also attacked hotels, shopping centers and supermarkets in recent years. In claiming responsibility for the attack, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid characterized the restaurant and nearby Spozhmai Hotel as a den of booze, prostitution, dancing and “wild parties” that catered to foreigners and was an affront to Islam. But Afghan police strongly disputed the description, saying the resort on Qargha Lake outside Kabul was frequented by Afghans relaxing with their families. The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John R. Allen, said the attack bore the signature of the Haqqani network, a Taliban-allied insurgent group based in the tribal areas of Pakistan. The Haqqani group, which U.S. officials believe has links to Pakistan’s intelligence service, has organized many of the most dramatic and deadly assaults in Kabul. Its ruthlessness and effectiveness have made it one of the most important enemies of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. “There is no doubt that innocent Afghan civilians were the intended targets of this unspeakably brutal attack,” Allen said in a statement. “This is a crime against humanity because they targeted children, women and civilians picnicking at the lake,” said Gen. Mohammad Zahir, chief of the Kabul police investigation unit. “There wasn’t even a single soldier around there.” The insurgents arrived at the Spugmay in a minivan at around 11:30 p.m. Thursday — the start of the Afghan weekend — while the restaurant was full of guests, some smoking hookahs under pine trees on the lawn, others eating lamb kebabs on the rooftop terrace. In the parking lot, the gunmen shot the manager’s brother and security guards, then charged through the front door, past a sign that read “No guns allowed.” Sharif Aloko and 11 of his friends were sitting on the patio when the gunmen entered. One of them shot a father and his daughter while family members pleaded, “Please don’t kill us.” A gunman then killed another guest, grabbed his cellphone and made a call, Aloko recalled in an interview. “He said, ‘Hafiz, I am here. Pray for me to succeed. So far the security forces have not arrived.’ ” After ending the call, Aloko said, the attacker shouted at his men to preserve their bullets. One of the cooks said he jumped out the kitchen window and cowered behind a hedge the entire night. Other guests leapt into the lake, and one drowned as he tried to escape, according to Afghan officials. One man was fatally shot while smoking a cigarette, which was still in his fingers as he lay dead. Afghan police stationed down the street ran into the parking lot but were repulsed. Eventually, Afghan reinforcements, backed by NATO helicopters and Norwegian special forces, arrived at the restaurant and battled the attackers. 116

“What we did for two hours was just protect the surrounding areas,” said Salim, one of the Afghan policemen who responded to the attack. “Nobody could dare come close to the gate. They were on the roof, and it was well lit, so whoever tried to come in they would shoot. Even if we lit a lighter they would shoot at us.” Police said the Taliban released women and children in the morning. By mid-morning, when Afghan troops killed the last insurgents, the restaurant was pocked with bullet holes and littered with shell casings. Dead insurgents lay slumped on stairways and inside toilet stalls. “When these attacks happen, the people definitely start hating the Taliban,” said Omid Sherzada, a 20-year-old former waiter at the restaurant, who came by to survey the wreckage. “I saw one guy sitting on the grass crying, saying, ‘Imagine, these are Muslims, and they’re doing this kind of killing.’ ” The slaughter seemed less shocking to others. “We were thinking one day this restaurant would come under attack,” said Mohammed Latif, a 35-year-old policeman who is stationed near the Spugmay. “There were foreigners coming and drinking alcohol here. We are Muslims, and our law and path is the holy Koran.” Special correspondent Javed Hamdard contributed to this report. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/taliban-insurgents-attack-kabul- hotel/2012/06/22/gJQAUVrWuV_story_1.html

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Afghan forces thwart insurgent attack on Kabul

By Mirwais Harooni KABUL | Thu Aug 2, 2012 8:26am EDT

(Reuters) - Afghan security forces killed five insurgents and wounded one during a pre-dawn raid in Kabul on Thursday, with authorities saying they had thwarted a mass attack and captured intelligence pointing to the militant Haqqani network. Soldiers from Afghanistan's spy agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), launched the raid just after midnight, entering a single-story house compound on the fringes of Kabul which the insurgents were using as a base. "They planned mass attacks in different parts of Kabul disguised in burqas," the NDS said in a statement, referring to the head-to-toe covering worn by many Afghan women and sometimes used by insurgents to evade detection. 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 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. Dozens of militants launched a coordinated assault in central Kabul on April 15, occupying a high-rise construction site and pounding the city's diplomatic and government centre with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire in an attack that took 18 hours to quell. On June 22, Afghan security forces backed by foreign advisers fought a day-long battle with insurgents after a Taliban attack on a lakeside hotel on Kabul's outskirts. But security forces and NATO-led foreign troops say the sporadic attacks do not point to weaknesses in Afghan forces and intelligence ahead of a withdrawal by most foreign combat troops to be completed by 2014.

"PROGRESS" The United States is pressing Pakistan to step up its efforts to root out militants, in particular the Haqqanis.

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Pakistan has strong traditional links with the Afghan Taliban and other militant groups but it denies accusations it uses them as proxies to gain leverage in Afghanistan ahead of any settlement to the war, or in case a civil war breaks out after foreign troops leave. Pakistan has also long complained that the United States has overlooked its contribution to the fight against militants. NATO's top commander in Afghanistan, U.S. General John Allen, met Pakistani counterparts in Islamabad on Thursday to discuss cross border security in the wake of hundreds of rocket attacks in eastern Afghanistan which Afghan officials have blamed on the Pakistan army. Pakistan has denied the accusation. "We are making significant progress toward building a partnership that is enduring, strategic, carefully defined, and that enhances the security and prosperity of the region," Allen said in a statement after his talks. The NATO-led force in Afghanistan has acknowledged an 11 percent spike in attacks over the past three months since the start of the summer fighting period, although overall the number of foreign soldiers killed is down on last year. Eighty-five were killed in June and July against 119 over the same period last year. (Writing by Rob Taylor; Editing by Robert Birsel) http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/02/us-afghanistan-attack-idUSBRE8710H120120802

ISAF Releases ISAF condemns murderous insurgent attacks

2012-08-CA-006 KABUL, Afghanistan (Aug. 7, 2012) — The International Security Assistance Force joins the Afghan Ministry of the Interior in expressing condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed and injured as a result of today's improvised explosive device (IED) attack in the Paghman District of Kabul Province. "The placement of this IED was clearly intended to indiscriminately murder innocent civilians during the holy month of Ramazan. This act clearly demonstrates the insurgents' lack of concern for the people of Afghanistan and their desire for peace and security for themselves, their families, and their nation," said Brig. Gen. Günter Katz, ISAF Spokesman. "I offer my prayers and condolences to the families of those killed and wounded in this tragic event." Additionally, ISAF condemns this morning's vehicle-borne IED attack outside a Coalition base in Logar Province, which failed to cause any significant damage to the base, but did result in the severe injury of a number of innocent Afghan civilians. The civilians have all been transferred to medical facilities for treatment. "These inhumane attacks targeted and harmed Afghan civilians. They are two more examples of the insurgency's destructive, vicious disregard for the Afghan people and the adverse effects their actions are having on individual and national progress," Katz said. http://www.isaf.nato.int/article/isaf- releases/isaf-condemns-murderous-insurgent-attacks.html

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News - Afghanistan Afghan Spy Agency Foils Kabul Suicide Attack, Arrests 5 Insurgents Sunday, 12 August 2012 11:27Last Updated on Sunday, 12 August 2012 14:02Written by TOLOnews.com

Five insurgents planning a co-ordinated suicide attack in Kabul city were arrested by security forces on Saturday night, a spokesman for Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security said. "Five insurgents were captured last night about 1:00am in the Shur Bazaar area of Kabul city," NDS spokesman Lutfullah Mashal said. "They wanted to attack the Parliament and President Hamid Karzai [and] Second Vice-President Mohammad Karim Khalili's house." He added: "Four of them are Afghan nationals and one is a Pakistani national." The group of insurgents was armed with heavy weapons and suicide vests, AK-47 assault rifles, rocket launchers, hand grenades, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Isaf confirmed the capture of the would-be attackers. In a statement, Isaf said that an Afghan-led security force, supported by coalition troops, arrested multiple insurgents during an operation in Kabul today. "The Afghan security force arrested the insurgents as they were finalising plans for an attack in the capital," the statement said. The arrests come a week after five other insurgents planning a co-ordinated suicide attack at a hotel in the Pul-i-Charkhi area of Kabul city were killed in a pre-dawn gun battle. Separately, three other insurgents were captured during an Afghan police operation in the Bagrami district east of the capital. http://tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/7192-afghan-spy-agency-foils-kabul-suicide-attack-arrests-5-insurgents-

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Asia Pacific Suicide Bomber in Afghanistan Strikes Minibus, Killing Mostly Foreign Workers

Ahmad Jamshid/Associated Press

Men assisted two distraught brothers of a minibus driver killed in Kabul on Tuesday. By ROD NORDLAND and SANGAR RAHIMI

Published: September 18, 2012

 KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber killed 14 people on Tuesday, including 10 foreigners, most of whom worked as flight crew members under contract with the United States government, officials said. The attack brought to at least 28 the number of deaths attributed to unrest sweeping the Muslim world as a result of a video parodying the Prophet Muhammad. Related

 Coalition Sharply Reduces Joint Operations With Afghan Troops(September 19, 2012)  Egypt: 8 Charged Over Anti-Islam Film (September 19, 2012)  Times Topic: The 'Innocence of Muslims' Riots (Nakoula Basseley Nakoula)

Connect With Us on Twitter Follow@nytimesworldfor international breaking news and headlines. Twitter List: Reporters and Editors

Mauricio Lima for The New York Times Forensic workers covered a body at the site of a suicide bomb attack in Kabul on Tuesday.

Omar Sobhani/Reuters In the bombing on Tuesday, a suicide bomber, said by insurgents to be a woman, drove a car full of explosives head-on into a minibus. A spokesman for an Afghan insurgent group, Hezb-i-Islami, claimed responsibility for the bombing and said it was carried out by an 18-year-old woman “in response to the film insulting the Prophet Muhammad and Islam.” The attack took place as word emerged that the American-led military coalition fighting the insurgents had sharply curtailed ground-level operations with the Afghan Army and police forces. The new limits were prompted by a spike in attacks on international troops by Afghan soldiers and police officers over the past six weeks. There was also fear that anger over the anti-Islam video could prompt such attacks, American officials said. The deaths in Kabul on Tuesday were the first here so far connected to the video, and came as the authorities cracked down on attempted street demonstrations and asked Internet providers to block

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sites hosting a clip of the film, posted under the name “Innocence of Muslims,” shutting down access to Google, YouTube and Gmail in the process. Access to Google and Gmail in Afghanistan appeared to have been restored by Monday afternoon, though officials said YouTube remained blocked for most Internet users. Google, which owns YouTube, declined a White House request to remove the video, saying it did not violateGoogle’s rules on hate speech. In Egypt, a radical cleric issued a fatwa calling for the killing of everyone involved in the video, according to a report posted on militants’ Web sites. In the attack on Tuesday, the suicide bomber drove a car full of explosives at high speed head-on into a minibus carrying foreign workers on Airport Road, killing all 12 people aboard and two people on the road, according to the police. The United States Embassy said in a statement that many of the foreign victims were employees of a private company that provides services to the United States Agency for International Development and other organizations in Afghanistan. American officials said they had been employed by a South African aviation charter company, ACS/Balmoral, working under contract for USAID as pilots and crew flying planes in what is colloquially known as “Embassy Air” to provincial capitals in Afghanistan. A spokeswoman for ACS/Balmoral, Candice Teubes, said the 10 foreign victims were all believed to be South African citizens. The authorities in Afghanistan provided conflicting accounts. An aide to Gen. Mohammad Ayoub Salangi, the Kabul police chief, said at least six of the 10 dead foreigners were South Africans, five men and a woman; one was a Filipino; and the nationalities of the others were uncertain. At least 28 people have been killed in six countries as a consequence of protests over the video since it was posted on YouTube in the days before Sept. 11. A Florida pastor, Terry Jones, whose small church had publicly staged burnings of the Koran last year, called attention to it in the United States, but it drew much wider scrutiny in the Muslim world after an Arabic language version began to circulate on the Web. The film was produced in the United States, though its origins are still shrouded. American federal authorities identified the man behind the film as Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55. Though the film does not appear to violate any American laws, the authorities took Mr. Nakoula in for questioning on Saturday over possible federal parole violations connected to an unrelated criminal conviction. That action has done little to tamp down the unrest. The violence began on Sept. 11 when a mob attacked the American embassy in Cairo. The unrest quickly spread to Libya, where an attack on an American diplomatic mission in Benghazi claimed the lives of the American ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens, and three staff members. Protests at Western diplomatic posts in the ensuing days took one life in Egypt, three in Tunisia, one in Lebanon and five in Yemen. The United States sent Marines to Yemen and Sudan to protect embassies there. SITE Intelligence Group, a monitoring agency that tracks militants’ Internet postings, reported late Monday that a prominent Egyptian Salafist preacher, Ahmad Ashoush, had issued a fatwa, or religious edict, saying that “the killing of the director, producer, actors and everyone else involved in the film is mandatory.” The fatwa was posted on militant online forums on Sunday, SITE said. The branch of Hezb-i-Islami that claimed responsibility for the Kabul bombing is an extremist faction headed by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, which fights against both the Taliban and the Afghan government. A moderate branch of the group has prominent members in the government, and Hezb-i-Islami has been seen as the insurgent group most likely to enter peace talks with the government. The explosion took place on a road leading from the civilian entrance to the airport toward northern Kabul, near three adjacent wedding halls. The victims’ vehicle appeared to have been heading toward the airport. A street vendor, Abdul Rahim, 40, who was 150 yards from the scene, said he saw the suicide bomber drive into the minibus on a narrow access lane that was part of Airport Road, a broad boulevard where the lanes are separated by concrete barriers. As the vehicles collided, the bomb went off with such force that both were flung into the air, ending up 100 yards away from each another, he said. Reporting was contributed by Alissa J. Rubin, Matthew Rosenberg and Jawad Sukhanyar from Kabul, and Scott Sayare from Paris. A version of this article appeared in print on September 19, 2012, on page A12 of the New York edition with the headline: Suicide Bomber in Afghanistan Strikes Minibus, Killing Mostly Foreign Workers.http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/world/asia/bomber-strikes-vehicle- carrying-foreigners-in-kabul.html?_r=0

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Afghanistan Insider Attacks Raise Concern, Says Panetta

By LOLITA C. BALDOR 09/18/12 09:01 AM ET EDT FOLLOW:Video, U.S., U.S. Afghanistan, U.S. Military, U.S. Secretary Of Defense Leon Panetta, Afghanistan War Blog, Leon Panetta, U.s. War Afghanistan, World News

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta talks while in meeting with Japan's Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto at the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo, Monday, Sept. 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Larry Downing, Pool)

BEIJING -- U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday the U.S. is concerned about the impact insider attacks are having on its forces in Afghanistan. But he insisted Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander there, is taking necessary steps to protect the force while still ensuring the U.S. will be able to hand over security to the Afghans and be able to withdraw by the end of 2014. Panetta did not specifically address the dramatic action taken Monday by Allen, as NATO decided to temporarily scale back its operations with Afghan security forces in order to lower the risk of them turning their guns on American and allied forces. Instead, he argued that the attacks do not mean the Taliban is getting stronger. "I think what it indicates is that they are resorting to efforts that try to strike at our forces, try to create chaos but do not in any way result in their regaining territory that has been lost," he told reporters during a press conference in Beijing with China's minister of national defense, Gen. Liang Guanglie. Until now, U.S. and NATO troops routinely conducted operations with their Afghan counterparts. But under the new order, such operations for now will require the approval of a regional commander. NATO's decision reflected escalating worries about the insider attacks, coupled with the widespread tensions over an anti-Islam video that has prompted protests in Afghanistan and as many as 20 other countries around the world. Panetta, however, has suggested that the insider attacks represent a risk of war that must not impede the overall goals. "Every day when you are engaged in war, there are serious risks that confront those who fight the war," Panetta said Monday. "We will do all we can to minimize those risks but we will not lose sight of the fundamental mission here, which is to continue to proceed to assure a peaceful transition to Afghan security and governance." In a separate statement issued after the press conference, Pentagon press secretary George Little said the changes in joint operations "will often be short notice and based to the latest information." And he said the operations will always be conducted "in a manner that mitigates risks to our troops and ensures mission success." Early Tuesday, a suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a minibus carrying foreign aviation workers to the airport in the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing at least nine people. The Islamist militant group Hizb-i-Islami claimed responsibility for the dawn attack, saying it was revenge for the anti-Islam video. So far this year, 51 international troops have been killed by Afghan forces or militants wearing their uniforms. The attacks have spiked in recent months, damaging the trust between the NATO and Afghan forces at a time when ongoing training and cooperation are critical in order for allied troops to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014 and turn control of security over to the Afghan forces. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/18/afghanistan-insider-attacks-panetta_n_1893017.html

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Asia Pacific Coalition Sharply Reduces Joint Operations With Afghan Troops

Bryan Denton for The New York Times

An Afghan soldier, left, on patrol with an American soldier in the Barakzai hamlet of Sangsar. Similar operations in the future will require approval by a general. By MATTHEW ROSENBERG Published: September 18, 2012

 KABUL, Afghanistan — In a significant blow to a core element of the Western exit strategy from Afghanistan, the American-led military coalition said Tuesday that it had temporarily curtailed joint operations with the Afghan Army and police forces. Related  Suicide Bomber in Afghanistan Strikes Minibus, Killing Mostly Foreign Workers (September 19, 2012)  IHT Rendezvous: British Legislators Waver on Afghan War (September 18, 2012)  Egypt: 8 Charged Over Anti-Islam Film (September 19, 2012)  Times Topic: The 'Innocence of Muslims' Riots (Nakoula Basseley Nakoula)

Connect With Us on Twitter Follow@nytimesworldfor international breaking news and headlines. Twitter List: Reporters and Editors The new limits are a sign of how American priorities were being drastically reordered amid a wave of anti-American sentiment brought on by an anti-Islam movie, which has sparked riots across the Muslim world and on Tuesday was the motive behind a suicide bombing here that killed 14 people, 10 of them foreigners. Coalition officials said they feared that anger over the American-made film, which mocks the Prophet Muhammad, could worsen an already deadly spike in attacks on foreign troops by Afghan soldiers and police forces over the past six weeks. Under the rules issued on Sunday, a general’s approval will be required for foreign forces to work with Afghans on a tactical level — a broad category that covers activities like joint patrols into Taliban territory and hands-on training behind the fortified walls of a shared outpost. Until now, junior officers from both sides were able to organize patrols or small operations on their own. An American captain, for instance, could send men from his company to reinforce Afghans in a firefight without seeking higher approval. But now those officers will need approval from a two-star general who commands thousands of service members. The shift away from a top-to-bottom partnership with Afghans, even on a temporary basis, represents a sharp departure from efforts to pull Afghan forces closer to the coalition’s own so they could battle the Taliban together and, at the same time, let Afghanistan’s nascent army and police lean on and learn from foreign troops. 124

Coalition officials had an oft-repeated catchphrase to describe the relationship: the two sides, they say, were fighting “shoulder-to-shoulder.” Among higher-level units, that cooperation will remain unchanged, coalition officials said on Tuesday, stressing that the basic concept of forging a partnership with the Afghans to get them ready to fight on their own is still the guiding strategic principle for NATO forces. “We are not stepping away from this,” said Lt. Col. Richard W. Spiegel of the Army, a coalition spokesman. “Things might look a little different, but we’re not walking away.” Yet such talk did little to reassure Afghan soldiers and police forces, a number of whom said most of their units were not yet ready to fight on their own — an assessment shared by the Pentagon’s own public reporting. “It’s better to announce a cease-fire so we can also step back and take a nap,” said Abdul Qayom Baqizoi, the police chief of Wardak Province in central Afghanistan. An Afghan soldier said the new orders were already harming his forces, citing an episode on Monday in which an Afghan Army vehicle struck a hidden bomb. Two soldiers were killed, and the Americans did not respond to a request to evacuate four wounded soldiers, said Major Salam, an officer based in western Afghanistan who asked that his first name not be used. Instead, he said, they had to wait for help from their own forces, which do not have medical evacuation helicopters. “It took them six hours to bring the soldiers to the hospital. One of them has lost a lot of blood, and he might die,” Major Salam said. Amid the growth in popular anti-American sentiment, President Hamid Karzai and top officials in his government have also begun this week to publicly push back on Washington’s demands that they hold thousands of prisoners indefinitely at a prison recently turned over by the Americans. The Afghan government made clear on Sunday that it wants the Americans to immediately turn over an additional 600 prisoners they are still holding. The government followed up on Tuesday by saying that Afghan law does not provide for the indefinite detention of prisoners. American officials have countered that the Afghan government agreed to the indefinite detentions in the deal under which they won control of the prison, a detention facility in Parwan adjacent to the Bagram Air Base. “We need to give everybody a chance to solve this at the high levels; once you trade barbs publicly, people’s positions harden,” said one Western official. The coalition move to curtail direct cooperation with Afghan forces covers all work done by American military companies of roughly 120 men, and the platoons and squads of which they are composed. That includes many of the day-to-day interactions between the tens of thousands of coalition and Afghan troops that live on shared outposts and often work in small groups to more effectively combat insurgents who blend easily into villages. “Clearly, we’re going to be seeing less” of the joint patrols, meetings with village elders and other work field units from the two sides often do together, said Colonel Spiegel, adding that such interaction will not cease completely.

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Coalition Sharply Reduces Joint Operations With Afghan Troops Published: September 18, 2012

 (Page 2 of 2)

The orders, which were first reported by The Associated Press, will remain in place until commanders believe that the insider threat to their soldiers and Marines has dropped, said Col. Thomas Collins, another coalition spokesman. Related  Suicide Bomber in Afghanistan Strikes Minibus, Killing Mostly Foreign Workers (September 19, 2012)  IHT Rendezvous: British Legislators Waver on Afghan War (September 18, 2012)  Egypt: 8 Charged Over Anti-Islam Film (September 19, 2012)  Times Topic: The 'Innocence of Muslims' Riots (Nakoula Basseley Nakoula)

Connect With Us on Twitter Follow@nytimesworldfor international breaking news and headlines. Twitter List: Reporters and Editors There had been pullbacks from certain areas during other periods of upheaval, like widespread rioting earlier this year after American soldiers burned Korans. But the new orders cover the entire country, and given the current threat level, “commanders will be very discerning in the operations they approve or disapprove,” Colonel Collins said. While the change will not alter the basic American strategy, “we are concerned with regards to these insider attacks and the impact they are having on our forces,” Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta told reporters in China, where he was traveling. Gen. John R. Allen, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, “has reflected that in the steps that he has taken,” Mr. Panetta said. Some officials, though, acknowledged that the new order would sharply limit cooperation between junior American and Afghan officers and their troops in the field, and thus inevitably affect how the war was fought — and brought to a conclusion. The logistical implications of the new orders — how smaller units will continue to share outposts with Afghan forces — are still being worked out, officials said. Sometimes, Afghan and coalition units are separated by mere yards, and they often man posts together and split duty in guard towers. Other support the Americans and their NATO allies provide the Afghans will remain in place, like air cover, artillery support and, in select cases, the airlifting of wounded Afghans on American medical evacuation helicopters, officials said. Nor will life change significantly at battalion and brigade headquarters, which are not covered by the new limits and are, in any case, housed on sprawling bases where there is often physical distance and high walls between the NATO troops and the Afghans. Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry played down the impact of the coalition move, saying in a statement that its army companies already conducted many operations on their own and would continue to do so. But as word of the changes spread beyond Kabul, the potential blow to the morale of Afghan forces that for nearly a decade have looked to Americans for a variety supplies, like bullets and drinking water, quickly became apparent. “We rely on the Americans for everything,” said Major Salam, the officer in western Afghanistan. “We still need their support.” If the Americans “abandon us,” he added, “they should know that it would be the end of everything for all of us.”

Reporting was contributed by Alissa J. Rubin, Habib Zahori, Sangar Rahimi and Rod Nordland from Kabul, and Thom Shanker from Beijing. A version of this article appeared in print on September 19, 2012, on page A12 of the New York edition with the headline: Coalition Sharply Reduces Joint Operations With Afghan Troops. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/world/asia/nato-curbs-joint-operations-with-afghan-troops.html?ref=asia

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U.N. defends recommendation to postpone Afghanistan trip 

UNITED NATIONS | Wed Oct 10, 2012 5:58pm EDT (Reuters) - The United Nations defended on Wednesday its recommendation that the 15-member U.N. Security Council postpone a planned visit toAfghanistan this month over security concerns after some diplomats questioned the U.N. threat assessment. Diplomats said last week's decision to postpone the trip came after U.N. security chief Gregory Starr recommended they not travel to Afghanistanin the coming weeks, citing concerns for the safety of council diplomats. Some council diplomats privately questioned the U.N. recommendation as vague, but others told Reuters it would be unwise to question Starr's assessment of the risk level in Afghanistan. U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said a security assessment had been made to the council based on the best information available. "We stand by the recommendation, but will not comment further," he said. The council had also planned to stop in Yemen on the same trip. Starr also had advised against visiting there, envoys said. They added that there were no complaints about Starr's recommendation to avoid Yemen, which has been in upheaval since a popular uprising ousted longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh in February. U.S.-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban government in late 2001 when it refused to hand over al Qaeda militants, including Osama bin Laden, after the Islamist network's hijacked airliner attacks on the United States on September 11 that year. The U.N. Security Council unanimously extended on Tuesday its authorization of a NATO-led International Security Assistance Force for another year. The United Nations also has a political, development and aid mission in Afghanistan. Foreign troops have started handing over security control to Afghan soldiers and police, a process due to be completed by the end of 2014. A smaller NATO-led training and advisory mission is expected to remain, but NATO has given no details yet. Russia warned on Wednesday it will stop cooperating with NATO on Afghanistan after 2014 unless the alliance gets U.N. Security Council authorization for its new training mission in Afghanistan. A NATO official said only that it would be "helpful" to have a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing the post- 2014 training mission, but stopped short of saying it was essential. The United Nations has a mission in Afghanistan with staff at a number of compounds across the country. An attack on the U.N. location in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif last year killed at least 12 people, including seven U.N. staff members. In October 2010, several militants were killed when they attempted to ambush the U.N. compound in Herat dressed in burkas worn by women. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Eric Beech) http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/10/us-afghanistan-un-idUSBRE8991O320121010

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November 13, 2012 Insurgent Rockets Hit 3 Kabul Targets By THE NEW YORK TIMES KABUL, Afghanistan — Insurgents fired four rockets into the capital early on Tuesday, hitting a taxi, the grounds of a television studio and the international airport, the Afghan police and other officials said. One passenger in the taxi was killed and three passengers were wounded, but there were no other casualties, according to the Kabul police spokesman, Hashmat Stanakzai. Mr. Stanakzai said the rockets were fired around 6:40 a.m. by remote control, using cellphones, within the municipal boundaries of Kabul, from the Tara Khel area about two miles northeast of the airport. The area is semi-agricultural, and the rockets were believed to have been fired from a vegetable garden, he said. “Our security team found the area from where the rockets were fired, and they found another rocket round in the same place, which was set up and connected with a cellphone,” he said. An official at the Kabul airport, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information, said two rockets landed in what he called “very sensitive parts” of the airport but caused no damage or casualties. Fazal Karim, the head of Shamshad Television, said that one of the rockets landed in his station’s compound and caused minor damage. “Thank God, no one was killed or injured,” he said. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/world/asia/afghanistan- insurgents.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print

Suicide blast hits near U.S. base in Kabul By Heidi Vogt and Rahim Faiez - The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday Nov 21, 2012 6:48:58 EST KABUL, Afghanistan — Two Taliban suicide bombers struck near a U.S. base in Kabul early Wednesday, killing two Afghan guards in the heart of a neighborhood filled with foreign forces and embassies. The attack came despite increased security ahead of a Muslim holy day that last year saw one the capital’s deadliest attacks. The bombers apparently meant to target the American base but were spotted by security guards as they approached on foot. The guards fired on the assailants, killing them, but not before one of the vests exploded, said Gen. Mohammad Daoud Amin, the deputy provincial police chief. Two Afghan security guards were killed and five civilians were wounded in the morning explosion, he said. The blast reverberated around Kabul’s Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood. An alarm started going off at the nearby U.S. Embassy, warning staff to take cover. The neighborhood also is home to many high-ranking Afghan officials, international organizations and the headquarters of the international military coalition. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing in an email to reporters. The attack came as foreign and Afghan forces tightened their watch over the capital ahead of the holy day of Ashoura on Saturday, when Shiite Muslims commemorate the seventh century death of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson. Last year, the commemoration saw the country’s first major sectarian attack since the fall of the Taliban regime. In that strike, a suicide bomber on foot detonated his vest amid scores of worshippers at a Shiite shrine, killing at least 80 people. Attacks in Kabul are relatively rare, and more recent strikes have not been particularly deadly but have shown the continued ability of the insurgents to penetrate the security cordons that surround the city. The last previous attack before Wednesday’s strike took place last week, when insurgents fired four rockets into the city, killing one person. The rockets hit near the airport, a private television station and close to a compound used by the Afghan intelligence service. Wednesday’s bombers were also armed with grenade launchers, said Amin, the deputy police chief. He said they were stopped near a building that was under construction near the U.S. base. An international coalition vehicle was also damaged in the attack but there were no initial reports of casualties among the foreign forces, said Jamie Graybeal, a NATO troops spokesman. Police had already set up extra checkpoints around Kabul and specifically near shrines to search cars and people in the run up to the Ashoura. On Tuesday, Amin said that all his forces were “in the first security alert position” and doing their “best to provide good security and prevent any possible incident on Ashoura.” VIDEOS YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN http://www.armytimes.com/news/2012/11/ap-suicide-blast-hits-near-us-base-in-afghanistan-112112/

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Articles concerning the Security situation in Kabul 2013

Soldier killed when insurgents hit Afghan security agency office in Kabul By Masoud Popalzai, CNN January 17, 2013 -- Updated 0212 GMT (1012 HKT)

A truck driver peers through the broken windshield of his vehicle at the site of a the suicide attack on Wednesday.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Officials: Drone killed Taliban commander

An e-mail from Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the group was targeting government officials and foreigners who were leaving a meeting at the building. Police said injuries from the attack ranged from serious to light, while the Taliban said a number of people were killed. http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/16/world/asia/afghanistan-violenc

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Insurgents Attack Police Unit in Kabul

S. Sabawoon/European Pressphoto Agency

Afghan officials secured the area around the scene of a suicide bomb attack that targeted Kabul traffic officers.

By AZAM AHMED and HABIB ZAHORI Published: January 21, 2013 KABUL, Afghanistan — In the second brazen attack on the capital in less than a week, five Taliban suicide bombers stormed the headquarters of the traffic police early on Monday, setting off a fierce nine-hour gun battle that raged into the afternoon and claimed the lives of at least three traffic officers. Connect With Us on Twitter Follow@nytimesworldfor international breaking news and headlines. Twitter List: Reporters and Editors The attack began around 5 a.m., when insurgents shot and killed officers at the checkpoint in front of the headquarters, which is on the same road as the Parliament building. After the firefight began, insurgents wearing suicide vests remotely detonated a huge car bomb and rushed into the compound. Throughout the day, rocket explosions and gunfire erupted in intermittent bursts, as an array of Afghan security forces tried to dislodge the insurgents. The battle ended shortly after 2 p.m. with all of the insurgents dead. Only two of the bombers detonated their vests, officials said at the scene. The other three fighters were gunned down by the security forces. In addition to the three dead officers, six members of the security forces were wounded in the attack, said Gen. Abdul Rahman Rahman, a deputy minister at the Interior Ministry. At least eight civilians were also wounded, mostly from the bombing. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault, the second it has carried out in less than a week. On Wednesday, heavily armed bombers blew up the gate to an Afghan intelligence facility, killing at least one security officer and injuring numerous civilians. The consecutive attacks have rattled the relative security Kabul has experienced compared with other areas of the country. The group has promised to continue its fight against government targets in Kabul and elsewhere, creating unease among many Afghans as they prepare for coalition forces to withdraw troops from the country by 2014 or sooner. “Our target was a special police training unit where foreign instructors and trainers train,” said a Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid. “We inflicted heavy casualties to the enemy so far, and that is a part of our routine operations against the enemy.” Unlike the facilities of the security services, which are heavily armed and protected by mountainous blast walls and coils of razor wire, the traffic police headquarters offered a softer target. Traffic police officers are not typically armed in the streets of Kabul, and the headquarters does not have the same level of security as the intelligence installations. Still, within half an hour of the blast, the area was cordoned off by an array of Afghan security forces, as onlookers listened to the firefight from beyond the security perimeter. Periodically, debris from rocket-propelled grenades rained down on the street. Jawad Sukhanyar contributed reporting. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/world/asia/insurgents-attack-police-unit-in- kabul.html?_r=0

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Coordinated Kabul suicide attack targets government building

Mon, Jan 21 2013

By Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - Suicide bombers and gunmen launched an eight-hour assault on the headquarters of the Kabul traffic police on Monday, Afghan officials said, in the second coordinated attack on a government building in less than a week. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the operation In which all five attackers and three traffic police officers were killed, interior ministry officials said. The attack raised the possibility that insurgents were shifting tactics, testing Afghan security forces in Kabul after a series of high-profile attacks on Western targets last year. Violence across the country has been increasing over the last 12 months, sparking concern about how the 350,000-strong Afghan security forces will be able to manage once foreign troops withdraw by the end of 2014. Last week, six suicide bombers attacked the National Directorate of Security (NDS), killing two guards. That attack followed December's failed assassination attempt on NDS chief Asadullah Khalid. "It's very clear that more and more the Afghan security sources are getting into the lead, the more they are targeted by the insurgents," said Brigadier General Gunter Katz, spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Monday's attack began when three men detonated suicide bombs outside the main entrance and was followed by the two remaining attackers storming the unfortified area, Deputy Interior Minister General Abdul Rahman said. The pair, armed with automatic rifles, battled security forces outside the building nestled between two police hubs and close to parliament and a road commonly used by Afghan MPs. Thick smoke rose from the compound and an Afghan Army helicopter hovered above as Afghan forces returned fire with rockets and machine guns. The two gunmen were eventually killed by security forces, an interior ministry spokesman said. "Honestly speaking, this type of attack, at the start of the year, indicates the coming months are going to be tough," a government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The Taliban will want to display their presence and reach with these kinds of attacks in Kabul." (Writing by Amie Ferris-Rotman and Dylan Welch; Editing by Nick Macfie) © Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for their own personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters and its logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Thomson Reuters group of companies around the world. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, use the Reprints tool at the top of any article or visit: www.reutersreprints.com. http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USBRE90K03120130121

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Insurgents launch 4 attacks in Afghanistan Associated Press Sunday, February 24, 2013

The Associated Press Security guards for the Afghan intelligence department stand guard inside a half-built building near the scene where a an insurgent was shot to death near an Afghan intelligence office in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. A series of early morning attacks hit eastern Afghanistan Sunday, with three separate suicide bombings in outlying provinces and a shootout between security forces and a would-be attacker in the capital city of Kabul. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

The Associated Press A security official stands guard at the scene of a suicide car bomb attack which killed and injured several people at the National Directorate of Security in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb 24, 2013. A series of early morning attacks hit eastern Afghanistan Sunday, with three separate suicide bombings in outlying provinces and a shootout between security forces and a would-be attacker in the capital city of Kabul. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

The Associated Press A photographer and a video cameraman film an insurgent's body at the scene where he was shot to death near an Afghan intelligence office in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. A series of early morning attacks hit eastern Afghanistan Sunday, with three separate suicide bombings in outlying provinces and a shootout between security forces and a would-be attacker in the capital city of Kabul. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

The Associated Press An Afghan intelligence officer, center, tries to turn on a vehicle used by an insurgent, who was killed by security forces, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. A series of early morning attacks hit eastern Afghanistan 132

Sunday, with three separate suicide bombings in outlying provinces and a shootout between security forces and a would-be attacker in the capital city of Kabul. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

The Associated Press An Afghan photographer takes photos of an insurgent's body at the scene where he was shot to death near an Afghan intelligence office in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. A series of early morning attacks hit eastern Afghanistan Sunday, with three separate suicide bombings in outlying provinces and a shootout between security forces and a would-be attacker in the capital city of Kabul. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

The Associated Press EDS NOTE : GRAPHIC CONTENT - A security officer with the Afghan intelligence department, right, collects an insurgent's belongings, who was shot to death near an Afghan intelligence office in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. A series of early morning attacks hit eastern Afghanistan Sunday, with three separate suicide bombings in outlying provinces and a shootout between security forces and a would-be attacker in the capital city of Kabul. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

The Associated Press Explosive materials are seen in the back of a vehicle used by an insurgent at the site where he was shot to death in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. A series of early morning attacks hit eastern Afghanistan Sunday, with three separate suicide bombings in outlying provinces and a shootout between security forces and a would- be attacker in the capital city of Kabul. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

The Associated Press A security official stands guard the scene of a suicide car bomb attack which killed and injured several people at the National Directorate of Security in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb 24, 2013. A series of early morning attacks hit eastern Afghanistan Sunday, with three separate suicide bombings in outlying provinces and a shootout between security forces and a would-be attacker in the capital city of Kabul. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

The Associated Press EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - An insurgent's body lies at the site where he was shot to death near an Afghan intelligence office in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. A series of early morning attacks hit eastern Afghanistan Sunday, with three separate suicide bombings in outlying provinces and a shootout between security forces and a would-be attacker in the capital city of Kabul. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq) KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A series of early morning attacks hit eastern Afghanistan Sunday, with three separate suicide bombings in outlying provinces and a shootout between security forces and a would-be attacker in the capital city of Kabul. The attacks were a reminder that insurgents are still going on the offensive even as U.S. and other international forces draw down. All four attacks Sunday appeared to target Afghan forces, who have been suffering higher

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casualties this year. Afghan soldiers and police are easier targets than their NATO allies because their checkpoints and bases are less fortified. The deadliest attack Sunday was a suicide car bombing at a state intelligence site just after sunrise in the eastern city of Jalalabad. In that attack, a car approached the gate of a compound used by the National Directorate of Security and exploded, killing two guards and wounding three others, said regional government spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai. The building was damaged in the attack, he added. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the bombing. Shortly before the Jalalabad attack, an assailant detonated a van packed with explosives at a highway police checkpoint in Logar province, also in the east. That explosion wounded three police officers but no one was killed, said Deputy Police Chief Rais Khan Abdul Rahimzai. In Kabul, meanwhile, police shot and killed a would-be suicide bomber who was trying to attack an intelligence agency office downtown, according to the city's deputy police chief, Gen. Mohammad Daud Amin. Intelligence agents spotted the bomber before he could detonate the explosives in his vehicle and shot him, Amin said. The explosives in the vehicle were later defused, he added. Later in the morning, a man wearing a suicide vest blew himself up outside the police headquarters for Baraki Barak district in Logar province. The man was stopped by police as he tried to force his way into the building, but still managed to detonate his vest, said Din Mohammad Darwesh, the provincial government spokesman. One policeman was wounded in the Baraki Barak attack, Darwesh said. http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2013/feb/24/insurgents-launch-4-attacks-in-afghanistan/

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'Drop' in insurgent attacks in Afghanistan is clerical error An apparent drop in the number of insurgent attacks in Afghanistan that was cited by the Nato-led coalition as evidence of progress against the Taliban has been revealed as a clerical error.

An apparent drop in the number of insurgent attacks by the Taliban in Afghanistan has been revealed as a clerical error Photo: REUTERS

By Ben Farmer, Kabul 7:40AM GMT 27 Feb 2013 Coalition headquarters in Kabul admitted that attacks did not fall by seven per cent over the course of 2012 as originally reported, but remained at the same levels. The mistake was caused by staff failing to add figures from the Afghansecurity forces, a spokesman said. The slip will embarrass commanders and politicians who have repeatedly insisted there was a fall in attacks last year as proof that the 11-year-old campaign was succeeding and security was improving as troops withdraw ahead of 2014. "This was a record-keeping error that we recognised and have now corrected," a statement said. "Specifically, in the past we have reported that the year-over-year change in enemy-initiated attacks (EIA) from 2011 to 2012 had decreased by seven per cent. "After including this unilateral Afghan national security force data into our database, we have determined that there was no change in the total number of EIAs from 2011 to 2012." Enemy attacks is one of a host of statistics gathered by commanders trying to gauge the state of a campaign where progress is often patchy and uncertain. Barack Obama's surge of troops boosted security and the strength of the Kabul regime in Kandahar and Helmand. But security has fallen in other areas and, with the Taliban far from defeated, much of the country remains contested even as troops leave. Nasima Niazi, an MP from Helmand where British troops are withdrawing, said security had improved in the centre of the province, though she feared gains would reverse as troops and money left. One senior European diplomat told The Daily Telegraph security in the north of the country was "not good and it's getting worse". The coalition said in spite of the error "our assessment of the fundamentals of campaign progress has not changed. The enemy is increasingly separated from the population and the Afghan forces are currently in the lead for the vast majority of partnered operations." Separately, a suicide bomber wounded at least seven in the Afghan capital when he crawled under a bus ferrying Afghan soldiers to work and detonated his charges. Six soldiers and one civilian were hurt. Witnesses said the bomber wearing a black overcoat and carrying an umbrella against the snow walked towards the bus as soldiers boarded. He wriggled underneath then exploded, engulfing the bus in flames. Ahmad Shakib, a witness, told the AP news agency: "I thought to myself, 'What is this crazy man doing?' And then there was a blast and flames. "It was a very loud explosion. I still cannot really hear." The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/9896735/Drop-in-insurgent-attacks-in-Afghanistan-is- clerical-error.html

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S. Sabawoon/European Pressphoto Agency Afghan security officials at the scene of a suicide bombing outside the Afghan defense ministry in Kabul on Saturday. Related  U.S. Again Delays Transfer of Bagram Prison to Afghan Forces(March 10, 2013)  U.S. Cancels Transfer of Bagram Prison to Afghans (March 9, 2013)  New Defense Chief Visits ‘Reality of Combat’ in Afghanistan(March 9, 2013)

Connect With Us on Twitter Follow@nytimesworldfor international breaking news and headlines. Twitter List: Reporters and Editors And a short time later, another bomber detonated his explosives in eastern Afghanistan before reaching what appeared to be his target, a joint Afghan-American military checkpoint. He killed eight children and a policeman, according to Afghan military and hospital officials. Although Mr. Hagel was not at the site of either blast, he was not far from the Kabul attack, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility. The attacks, with a combined death toll of at least 19, appeared to have been timed to coincide with Mr. Hagel’s visit, and a Taliban spokesman said that the Kabul explosion was intended as a message for the defense secretary. The violence in the heavily secured capital and in a more remote area of the country highlighted Afghanistan’s continuing vulnerability after nearly 12 years of international efforts to vanquish the insurgency. The attack in eastern Afghanistan took place in Khost Province, and the bomber was stopped from doing even more harm by the policeman, who was killed as he tried to persuade the attacker not to detonate his explosives. “One of our brave police officers hugged the suicide bomber and asked him not to blow himself up, but the bomber blew himself up anyway and our brave police officer was torn to pieces,” said Yaqub Mandozia, deputy police chief of Khost. The eight children who were killed, all boys 10 to 18 years old, lived in Starkalai, a rural hamlet less than a mile from Forward Operating Base Salerno, a large American air base that coordinates military operations in Afghanistan’s three southeastern provinces, Khost, Paktia and Paktika. Mr. Hagel, who is on his first visit here after being sworn in as defense secretary, said he was not surprised by the attacks. “We have a war here, and that’s just the reality,” said Mr. Hagel, a Vietnam veteran, on Saturday as he visited American troops in eastern Afghanistan. Asked about the Taliban statement that said the attacks were a message to him, Mr. Hagel expressed a long-term view of the progress toward security. “We are going to continue to work with the Afghans and coalition partners to fight that war, and assure that the Afghan people have every ability and right to develop their own country,” he said. After the Kabul bombing, a spokesman for the Public Health Ministry and Dr. Musa Wardak, the director of the military hospital, said that in addition to the 10 people killed at the Defense Ministry, including two Afghan soldiers, 14 other people were wounded, including two Afghan National Army officers. A woman and a child were also among the dead, Dr. Wardak said. The explosion, which was followed by heavy gunfire, occurred just as Kabul residents were going to work and the streets were busy with people on foot, on motorcycles and in cars. The Defense Ministry immediately locked down its large compound so that its employees could not go out to see the damage, according to a colonel in the operations department who spoke by telephone. Less than three hours earlier, 20 journalists had gathered at the exact location of the explosion at the visitors’ gate of the ministry, where they were waiting to board a bus to take them to a ceremony to mark the transfer of control over Bagram Prison to the Afghan government. At the last minute the trip — and the ceremony — was canceled, but it had been widely promoted. The Taliban spokesman for northern and eastern Afghanistan, Zabiullah Mujahid, said that the bomber was from Kandahar and that the intention was “to send a message to the visiting American defense minister.” He denied that civilians had been killed or wounded. 136

The Taliban have pledged repeatedly not to harm civilians, but according to the most recent United Nations report on civilian casualties, the Taliban and other insurgents were responsible for 81 percent of the 2,754 civilian deaths and injuries in the Afghan conflict in 2012. Reporting was contributed by Thom Shanker, Jawad Sukhanyar and Sharifullah Sahak from Kabul, and Farouk Mangal from Khost Province, Afghanistan. A version of this article appeared in print on March 10, 2013, on page A10 of the New York edition with the headline: Blasts Hit Afghanistan After Arrival Of Hagel. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/world/asia/blast-hits-kabul-shortly-after-hagel-arrives.html

Amnesty International is a global movement of over 3 million people committed to defending those who are denied justice or freedom.

 Imminent deportation poses grave risk for Hazaras’ safety Imminent deportation poses grave risk for Hazaras’ safety 15 March 2013, 01:06PM Topics: Refugees Amnesty International has grave concerns with the Government’s recent move to start returning Hazara asylum seekers to Afghanistan and Pakistan. “The security situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating and we are extremely fearful for their safety should the Government send these asylum seekers back,” said Alex Pagliaro, Amnesty International’s Refugee Spokesperson. “The Government also indicated that it plans to return some of these asylum seekers to Islamabad, where they will likely end up in Quetta. “The continued targeting of Hazaras in Quetta, including the two bombings in recent months with over 100 people killed, shows just how dangerous the situation is for them. “Amnesty International has worked closely with Hazara asylums seekers who are now facing imminent return to Ghazni province, and has serious concerns that the decisions are based on incorrect or outdated country information. “The constantly evolving situation in countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan must be taken into consideration in Australia’s asylum review process, especially when the risk of returning people to such volatile and uncertain circumstances has consequences too severe to ignore,” said Pagliaro. Amnesty International urges the Australian Government to review its country information when assessing cases to ensure that asylum seekers are processed in the fairest and most humane way. “Australia has an obligation under international law to prioritise the safety and dignity of these vulnerable individuals and unfortunately we have not seen evidence that their protection is currently the top priority,” said Pagliaro http://www.amnesty.org.au/news/comments/31316/

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MARCH 17, 2013 · 11:20 PM The asylum seeker we sent home to his death March 17, 2013

(April 03, 2009) TOUR Gul travelled halfway around the world to escape Afghanistan. An enemy of the Taliban, he was convinced he was a target. But in 2002, Australia rejected his plea for asylum and sent him home to his death. “He was worried. He knew the Taliban would kill him but the government refused him,” said his friend, Salem Haideri. Mr Gul’s death late last year made front-page news in Afghanistan. “A famous leader has been killed innocently, in cold blood by the the anti-Islamic forces,” said the Governor of Maidan Wardak province, Mohammed Halim Fedaie. The killing of Mr Gul and another asylum seeker, Mohammed Hussain, have prompted renewed calls for Afghans denied refugee status under the former government to have their cases reopened. The Age last week revealed four rejected asylum seekers from Afghanistan who travelled on the Tampa have now been found to be genuine refugees, after they risked a second boat trip with people smugglers. One of the men, Asmatullah Mohammadi, said 11 asylum seekers on Nauru had been killed by the Taliban after they were sent back to Afghanistan. The director of social justice agency the Edmund Rice Centre, Phil Glendenning, who spent six years travelling the world to investigate the fate of rejected asylum seekers, said he believed 11 deaths was a conservative figure. Mr Glendenning has called on Immigration Minister Chris Evans to reopen the cases of rejected Afghan asylum seekers. “Some sort of justice needs to be afforded to people who came here seeking our protection and were sent back to the Taliban,” Mr Glendenning said. Senator Evans said he was aware of the “serious questions raised about repatriations to Afghanistan under the failed Pacific Solution”. “My office has been in contact with the Edmund Rice Centre … and its findings will be carefully considered by the Government, along with further advice that I have sought from my department, before any decision is taken as to what action may be appropriate.” Mr Gul, 47, stayed in Villawood but was also released into the community. He returned to Afghanistan in 2002 after he was denied refugee status. Mr Haideri, who met Mr Gul while he was fruit-picking in Griffith, NSW, said a lot of people had cried over his friend’s death. “He said the Taliban knew him. The Taliban said: ‘You’ve been in Australia, you are an agent.”‘ Mr Glendenning said Mr Gul claimed asylum in Australia because his membership of the Sayaaf party, which was part of the mujahideen, made life dangerous for him after the Taliban took over. “We believe that was the reason he was shot through the head,” he said. Mohammed Hussain, a poet who was detained on Nauru, was killed last year when he was thrown down a well by gunmen, believed to be Taliban, in front of members of his own family. His assailants then threw a hand grenade down the well and he was decapitated. Mr Glendenning interviewed Mr Hussain in Kabul in January last year, for his documentary A Well-Founded Fear, about asylum seekers rejected during the Howard years. “I was forced to leave this country, and seeking refuge in Australia worsened my crime,” he says in the film. Afghan man Chaman Shah Nasira, who was resettled in Australia after two years on Nauru, urged the Government to reopen the rejected cases.

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He said the Immigration Department had put pressure on asylum seekers to return to Afghanistan when they were denied refugee status, telling them NATO was bringing peace to the country and they would never be let into Australia. About 400 Afghans detained on Nauru were returned to Afghanistan after having their asylum claims rejected. Note: This news story was published Four years ago on The Age. Source: http://www.theage.com.au/national/the-asylum-seeker-we-sent-home-to-his-death-20090402- 9l57.html#ixzz2Nnj7tG3r Leave a Comment Filed under Deportation, Hazara Persecution Tagged as Afghanistan, deportation of asylum seekers, hazara asylum seekers, john howard, pacific solution http://hazaraasylumseekers.wordpress.com/tag/afghanistan/

News – Afghanistan 85% of Insurgent Attacks Will Target Kabul: ANA

Tuesday, 02 April 2013 20:35Written by Rafi Sediqi

Head of National Directorate of Security (NDS) for Kabul province, Mirza Khan Rahimi, agreed with the remarks, saying that preparations to stop these plans are underway. He disclosed the names and posts of a number of high-ranking Taliban members who are responsible mainly for the group's attacks in Kabul. "There have been some alterations – as decreed by Mullah Omar – to the structure of the Taliban. Hafiz Mohibullah and Mawlawi Enayatullah have been selected as the Taliban's shadow provincial governor of Kabul and head of the suicide attacks in Kabul, for insurgent activities," he said. The security officials met Tuesday in Kabul to discuss the capital's security ahead of the warmer seasons of spring and summer which are regarded as the peak of insurgent activity throughout the year. Kabul police chief Gen Ayub Salangi who was present at the meeting spoke of the efforts to prevent weapons being brought into the capital for the attacks. "The opposition groups are endeavoring to use the four main roads to Kabul and pedestrians to move in artillery and explosives to make Kabul insecure," he said. Head of Kabul provincial council, however, expressed fear over lack of sufficient coordination between Afghan security organisations and the council. "Our demand is for the security organisations to cooperate with us to provide security," Nesaruddin Bariyalai said. We are prepared to provide security and to cooperate with the security organisations," he added. http://tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/10004-85-of-insurgent-attacks-will-target-kabul-ana

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20 Apr 2013 Afghan insurgent attacks rise sharply this year: study REPORT from Agence France-Presse Published on 20 Apr 2013 04/20/2013 11:56 GMT Kabul, April 20, 2013 (AFP) - Attacks by Afghanistan's Taliban and other insurgents soared in the first quarter of 2013, raising the grim prospect of an unusually violent year, a study by an independent group showed Saturday. The violence overwhelmingly targets Afghan troops and police as foreign combat forces step back from the frontline in preparation for withdrawal from the country next year, according to the Afghanistan NGO Safety Office (ANSO). ANSO reported 2,331 insurgent attacks in January-March, a 47 percent rise on the first quarter of last year. "We assess that the current re-escalation trend will be preserved throughout the entire season and that 2013 is set to become the second most violent year after 2011," said its report. The year 2011 was the bloodiest in a conflict which began when a US-led invasion ousted the Taliban government in Kabul in 2001. But US-dominated foreign forces are pulling out, and the report found that 73 percent of all attacks in January-March were against Afghan soldiers or police. A further 10 percent targeted civilians seen as associated with the Kabul government. Only four percent were against foreign forces. ANSO director Tomas Muzik described his organisation's assessment as "grim", but said it "only represents a further escalation in the perpetual stalemate that has come to characterise the conflict". ANSO (www.ngosafety.org) conducts safety assessments for non-governmental organisations operating in the country and is supported by the European Commission, the Swiss development agency and the Norwegian foreign ministry. Afghanistan's defence ministry confirmed a "big increase" in Taliban attacks on the country's army but disputed the figures in the ANSO report. Ministry spokesman Zaher Azimi said casualty figures for the army would be released soon. sm/us/mmg/ao © 1994-2013 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse: ©AFP: The information provided in this product is for personal use only. None of it may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the express permission of Agence France-Presse. http://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/afghan-insurgent-attacks-rise-sharply-year-study

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World Attack on U.S. Military Vehicles Kills at Least 16 in Kabul

An Afghan man led his children away from the scene of the blast Thursday in Kabul. The attack shook the relative calm that has prevailed in the capital for months.

ANJA NIEDRINGHAUS / ASSOCIATED PRESS

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By MATTHEW ROSENBERG and SANGAR RAHIMI May 16, 2013 KABUL, Afghanistan — A Toyota Corolla packed with explosives rammed a pair of American military vehicles in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Thursday, setting off a blast that killed at least 16 people, including 6 American military advisers, and shook the relative calm that has prevailed for months in the city, Afghan officials said.

The explosion was powerful enough to rattle windows across Kabul. It left bodies strewed along the street and one of the American vehicles — an armored Chevrolet Suburban that weighed nearly five tons — lying in ruins more than 30 feet from the blast site. Hezb-i-Islami, a relatively small insurgent faction that often competes with the Taliban for influence, claimed responsibility for the attack, which also wounded more than three dozen Afghans. Haroon Zarghon, the group’s spokesman, reached by telephone in Pakistan, said the bombing was carried out by a 24-year-old man who had grown up south of Kabul. More attacks against Americans will come soon, Mr. Zarghon added, saying that Hezb-i-Islami was dismayed by the current talks between Afghanistan and the United States about a long-term security deal under which thousands of American soldiers could be based in Afghanistan for years to come.

Afghan police officers stood guard on Thursday at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul.

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MOHAMMAD ISMAIL / REUTERS

“When Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan realized that American invaders have the devil intention of staying in Afghanistan, we decided to step up our attack on Americans in Afghanistan,” he said. Whether Hezb-i-Islami — or the Taliban, for that matter — can regularly strike Americans in Kabul remains to be seen. Thursday’s bombing was the first significant attack in months on a Western target in Kabul, despite repeated efforts by insurgents to carry out a major strike in the city. According to Afghan and American officials, the insurgents have found their efforts stymied by the myriad layers of security that protect Kabul, from street-level police officers staffing checkpoints to Afghan and foreign Special Operations soldiers raiding homes and businesses nearly every night. The aftermath of Thursday’s bombing, though, provided a gory reminder of the war that still grips much of Afghanistan, and of the fact that only so much can be done to keep it from spilling over into Kabul, especially when the insurgents easily blend into the population. The car bomber’s vehicle, a white Corolla, is probably the most commonly seen car in Afghanistan, and the driver shot out of a side street, a fairly standard maneuver on Kabul’s chaotic and crowded roads. It is likely that the Americans who were targeted had little or no time to react once the threat became apparent, if they were able to spot it at all. The explosion left a deep crater in the road and cracks in the mud-brick shops that line the street. One of the two American Suburbans was reduced to a mangled heap of charred metal, while the other was launched into the air and blown down the street. Human remains and bits of metal and plastic and other material from the cars were scattered for hundreds of feet around the site of the attack. Blown-apart ration packets carried by soldiers could be seen, along with a partly burned iPhone. The United States-led coalition, in a brief statement, said two service members and four contractors had been killed. It did not specify their nationalities, though Afghan officials said they were all Americans. One witness, a man in his 40s who lives near where the explosives went off but would not give his name, said he was having breakfast with his family “when we heard a really loud boom, and then there was a fireball.” He added: “Our entire house was engulfed by smoke and dust. Glasses shattered, windows broke. Suddenly the daylight turned to darkness.” He said he ran out to see a large generator outside an Afghan bank branch in flames and bodies littering the street. “Some bleeding, some with missing limbs, some black like coal,” he said, calling it a “dreadful scene.” Capt. Faizullah, an Afghan Army commander at the scene, said an Afghan interpreter for the coalition had been killed along with the American advisers. The Americans worked with the intelligence department of the Defense Ministry, which is about half a mile from the scene of the attack, said Captain Faizullah, who, like many Afghans, uses a single name. Kanishka Baktash, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health, said the blast also killed nine Afghan civilians. Many of their bodies were burned beyond recognition. The attack was one of the deadliest this year against coalition forces. Foreign casualties have dropped off sharply in recent months, with Afghan forces taking on a greater front-line role and the coalition pulling back ahead of 2014, when NATO’s combat mission here is to end. Hezb-i-Islami, the group that said it was behind Thursday’s attack, occupies a murky position in Afghanistan. It has a political wing that is among the most powerful factions in President Hamid Karzai’s government. Its militant wing has for years vied with the Taliban for influence in eastern Afghanistan and around Kabul, sometimes directly battling the other insurgents — and, on occasion, aiding Afghan and coalition forces against the Taliban. But it also remains an active insurgent group. It previously claimed responsibility for a car bombing in Kabul in September. That attack targeted a minibus carrying flight crew members for planes contracted to fly for the United States Agency for International Development, the American government’s aid and development arm. Jawad Sukhanyar contributed reporting. http://wap.nytimes.com/2013/05/17/world/asia/kabul-car-bomb-attack.html

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Taliban launch attack in downtown Kabul

LATEST UPDATE: 24/05/2013

- AFGHANISTAN - SUICIDE BOMBING - TALIBAN - TERRORISM - UNREST

Gunfire and explosions rocked central Kabul on Friday after at least two suicide bombs tore through the Afghan capital, the second attack to hit the city in just over a week. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the blasts.

By Luke SHRAGO (video) News Wires (text)

Explosions and gunfire rocked central Kabul Friday as the Taliban launched an attack close to an Afghan intelligence facility and the headquarters of a government force that protects foreign firms. The attack comes a week after a suicide car bomb targeting a foreign military convoy killed 15 people including five Americans in the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital for nearly a year. The Taliban announced their annual "spring offensive" on April 27, opening a crucial period as local security forces take the lead in the fight against the insurgents. At least two blasts hit the centre of Kabul at about 4:00 pm (1130 GMT) on Friday, the second day of the Afghan weekend, and gunfire erupted as security forces rushed to the scene. Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai told AFP the initial blast came close to a hospital run by the NDS intelligence agency and the headquarters of the Afghan Public Protection Force (APPF), a government force that provides security for clients including international firms, supply convoys and aid groups. He said gunmen had occupied a building in the attack, which is ongoing. Jawed Kazem, a local shopkeeper, said: "I was sitting in my shop when the explosion happened. It was a big explosion which threw me off my chair, minutes later another explosion happened. "Smoke is rising and gunfire is continuing." Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told AFP that his group was responsible and added that the attack began with a suicide car bombing. "A group of other mujahideen armed with heavy and light weapons then took position in a building and are firing on several targets including a building in which the foreigners and members of spy agency stay," he said. The suicide bombing last Thursday was the first major attack in Kabul since March 9 when a bomber on a bicycle killed nine people outside the defence ministry during a visit by US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. The attacks further underline the capital's vulnerability to militant assaults as 100,000 NATO troops gradually withdraw from Afghanistan ahead of the end of international combat operations next year. Local forces are increasingly coming under attack from the Taliban as they take over from foreign forces, who will pull out of Afghanistan by the end of next year. Six members of the APPF were killed on Tuesday in a roadside bombing in western Afghanistan as they travelled to a hydroelectric dam that is under protection from insurgent attack. More than 11 years after the Taliban regime was ousted in 2001, efforts to seek a political settlement ending the violence have so far made little progress, but pressure is growing ahead of the NATO withdrawal. (AFP) http://www.france24.com/en/20130524-gunfire-suicide-bomb-explosions-kabul-afghanistan

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Foreign travel advice Afghanistan

Summary  Still current at: 2 June 2013  Updated: 7 May 2013  Latest update: sexual assaults against females working for NGOs in Kabul The FCO advise against all travel to parts of the country. The FCO advise against all but essential travel to parts of the country.

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The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advise against all or all but essential travel to different parts of the country according to provincial region:

Kabul  The FCO advise against all travel to the Surobi, Paghman, Musayhi, Khak-e Jabbar and Chahar Asyab Districts of Kabul province.  The FCO advise against all but essential travel to the city of Kabul. Northern Afghanistan  The FCO advise against all travel to Balkh, Kunduz, Badakhshan and the Baghlan-e Jadid District of Baghlan.  The FCO advise against all but essential travel to Takhar, Faryab, Jawzjan, Samangan, Sari Pul and the remainder of Baghlan. Eastern Afghanistan  The FCO advise against all travel to Ghazni, Kapisa, Khost, Kunar, Laghman, Logar, Nangarhar, Nuristan, Paktika, Wardak and Paktya.  The FCO advise against all but essential travel to Bamiyan, Parwan and Panjshir,.

Southern Afghanistan  The FCO advise against all travel to Helmand, Kandahar, Nimroz, Uruzgan and Zabul. Western Afghanistan  The FCO advise against all travel to Badghis and Farah, and the Shindand and Gozarah Districts of Herat province.  The FCO advise against all but essential travel to Dai Kundi, Ghor and remaining districts in Herat. There is a high threat from terrorism and specific methods of attack are evolving and increasing in sophistication. There is a high threat of kidnapping throughout the country. See Terrorism As insurgents attempt to destabilise the ongoing transition of security to Afghan National Security Forces it is likely that attacks across Afghanistan will continue. If you travel to Afghanistan you should have adequate and continuous professional close security arrangements and review them regularly. In March 2012 an Afghan government-controlled security force, the Afghan Public Protection Force (APPF), took over provision of most commercial security services in Afghanistan from private security companies. Only embassies and other accredited diplomatic missions are now allowed to use private security companies. Take out comprehensive travel and medical insurance before you travel. https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/afghanistan

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Afghanistan: Gun and rocket attack near Kabul airport 10 June 2013 Last updated at 10:59 GMT

David Loyn at the scene: "This is an Afghan response to an Afghan situation" Continue reading the main story

Taliban Conflict

 Insider attacks: Causes  Who are the Taliban?  Militant nexus  Q&A: Foreign forces Afghan security forces have tackled heavily-armed militants who seized a building near the main airport in the capital Kabul. Officials said seven gunmen had been killed in the five-storey building under construction near the airport and the attack was now over. The Taliban earlier said that they carried out the assault. The BBC's David Loyn at the scene says Afghan forces dealt with the situation with no help from international forces. The incident began shortly after dawn on Monday with witnesses reporting the sound of explosions and gunfire coming from the airport. Exchanges of fire went on for some hours with the Taliban firing rocket-propelled grenades into the surrounding streets. Continue reading the main story

Bilal SarwaryBBC News, Kabul

Police say the attack on Kabul International Airport was well co-ordinated - as was the response by Afghan security forces. Soon after the insurgents opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns, Afghan security personnel shut down the airport to all incoming and outgoing flights. Elite police reacted swiftly, engaging the militants in a battle that lasted nearly three hours and left all seven attackers dead. The sound of exploding grenades and machine guns could be heard several kilometres away. But the attack left several unanswered questions: For example, how did the insurgents manage to get their heavy weapons and a vehicle loaded with explosives up to the airport's perimeter despite all the security in place? Some experts said the attackers wanted to convey the message that they can strike at will in Kabul. The authorities may be praised for their response - but the attack highlights another clear failure of intelligence. All flights were cancelled in and out of Kabul international airport, which is home to a large Nato-led military base. Nearby roads were closed. Our correspondent said US Blackhawk helicopters circled above but on the ground the fighting was all carried out by Afghan police and army units, who have become far better at combating the insurgency.

Embassies on alert He said the Afghan police rapid reaction force sealed off the area and began clearing the building floor by floor. Kabul police chief General Ayoub Salangi later said that seven attackers had been killed - two when they detonated their explosives and five who were killed by security forces. 145

He said there were no civilian or military casualties. As the drama unfolded, embassies in the diplomatic area of Kabul were quickly locked down. Reports said the US embassy had sounded its "duck and cover" alarm and announced on loudspeakers that the alarm was not a drill. Alarms were also heard ringing loudly from the British embassy. The Taliban announced a "spring offensive" in April, saying it would target foreign military bases and diplomatic areas. Last month, Afghan security forces fought Taliban insurgents for hours in the centre of Kabul after a major explosion shook the city. Most international troops are scheduled to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014. Afghan forces are due to take responsibility for the security of the whole country in the next few months, for the first time since 1992. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22837221#story_continues_2

Translation of the picture text, headline and ingress, the next headline and the following paragraph from the Norwegian newspaper ‘Dagsavisen’ 11th of June 2013, follows.

Victorious: Afghan forces did defeat with support from Norwegian colleges, an attack at the airport in Kabul yesterday.

Norwegian soldiers contributed in striking back attack Afghanistan: Norwegian soldiers assisted their Afghan colleges in striking back an attack against the airport in the capital Kabul yesterday. (…)

No Norwegians hurt. Norwegian special forces form the armed forces special command/The Army's Hunter command (FSK/HJK) defeated together with Afghan Special forces the rebels, press spokesman Christian Øverli in The Armed Forces informs.

Except for the information about Norwegian forces, the information is the same as form BBC News Kabul, and is therefore not translated.

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News – Afghanistan Supreme Court Blast Kills 17 and Injures 40: Officials Tuesday, 11 June 2013 17:06Last Updated on Wednesday, 12 June 2013 12:07Written by Faridullah Sahil

It is said that the car hit three buses which were waiting to pick up the Supreme Court employees. All the buses were badly damaged. The Head of Kabul Police Criminal Investigation Department Gen. Mohammad Zahir Zahir said that 17 civilians including women were killed and 40 including children injured in the blast. "At around 4 pm the enemies of Afghanistan once again targeted the civilians by detonating a car full of explosives. As a result, 17 civilians were killed and 40 wounded," Gen. Zahir told TOLOnews. Victims are being taken to a nearby hospital. TOLOnews reporter at the scene of action said that the bomber was in a Corolla car and the target was Supreme Court employees. The US Embassy is also located near the Supreme Court. President Karzai through a statement condemned today's attack on Supreme Court and assured that action will be taken against the enemies for Afghanistan's peace. Taliban Spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid through a media statement claimed responsibility for the attack and said that the Group has succeeded in inflicting heavy casualties. "Today the Taliban insurgents have attacked and tomorrow they will come after our families with guns. Every politician should understand the gravity of the situation and must take measures to prevent these attacks. If not today, these leaders will be their next targets," one of the eye witnesses told TOLOnews. Earlier on Monday, a group of six insurgents attacked the Provincial Council Office in southern Zabul province. 15 civilians and three police officers were injured in this attack. "The incident took place Monday morning in Qalat, capital of the province. One of the insurgents first blew himself inside a vehicle loaded with explosives near the office building," Provincial Deputy Governor Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar said. "Five other insurgents were gunned down by the police officers, before they could enter the building," he added. Meanwhile, the Provincial Police Chief Ghulam Sakhi Rogh Liwanai said that the bombers wanted to target a voter registration centre and the Provincial Council Office. But before they could accomplish their missions they were gunned down. No group including the Taliban had claimed responsibility for the attack. The incident happened on the same day when a group of seven Taliban insurgents launched an attack at the Kabul International Airport. All seven insurgents were killed in the assault, local officials said. Although, no civilians were killed in the attack, two were left wounded. The Police Chief of Kabul city Gen. Ayub Salangi said that the attack took place at about 4 am after seven Taliban insurgents had taken shelter inside an under construction building in the area and started firing at the security forces. "One of the insurgents first blew himself inside a vehicle loaded with explosives in the area and the second inside the under construction building," Gen. Ayub Salangi said. "There were no Afghan security force causalities in the area," he added. "Five other insurgents who were wearing the uniform of foreign troops and Afghan Police were killed by the Afghan security forces after five hours," officials said. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack. Off late, the Taliban insurgents have become active and are targeting the Afghan and Nato troops. To watch the footage, click here: Nightly News Bulletin TOLOnews Poll Do you think the Government is doing enough to conduct the 2014 elections in a peaceful and transparent manner? http://tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/10821-supreme-court-blast-kills-17-and-injures-40-officials

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Afghan forces take over security from NATO Tue, Jun 18, 2013

RELATED CONTENT  View Photo Afghan President Hamid Karzai (R) shakes hands with NATO Secretary General Anders …  View Photo Afghan defence officers attend a security handover ceremony at a military academy …  View Photo Afghan policemen sit on a vehicle as they leave the site of a blast in Kabul on June …  View Photo NATO soldiers board a Chinook helicopter after a security handover ceremony at a …  View Photo Prominent Afghan lawmaker Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq pictured in Kabul on March 9, 2004. … MORE WORLD STORIES »

 The Afghan government took control of nationwide security on Tuesday and ordered envoys to try to open peace talks with the Taliban as US-led troops prepare to withdraw after 12 years of war. President Hamid Karzai announced the security handover at a military academy outside Kabul, marking a major milestone in the long and bloody foreign combat mission that began after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Karzai pledged that Afghan forces were ready to take on insurgents, but persistent violence was highlighted when a bomb targeting a lawmaker killed three people in the capital just before the ceremony began. "Our security and defence forces will now be in the lead," Karzai told Afghan and NATO officials at the ceremony, the timing and location of which had been kept secret due to fears of a militant attack. "From here, all security responsibility and all security leadership will be taken by our brave forces," he said. Doubts remain over the ability of Afghan forces to beat the Taliban, and the NATO coalition will retain an important function in logistics and air support as well as in combat emergencies. NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that by taking the lead in security, Afghan forces were completing a five- stage transition process that began in March 2011. "They are doing so with remarkable resolve," he said. "Ten years ago, there were no Afghan national security forces... now you have 350,000 Afghan troops and police, a formidable force," he said. "We will continue to help Afghan troops in operations if needed, but we will no longer plan, execute or lead those operations, and by the end of 2014 our combat mission will be completed." Karzai used his speech to give a boost to peace efforts, saying that government envoys would travel to the Gulf state of Qatar to try to open negotiations with the Taliban. "Our High Peace Council (HPC) will go to Qatar, they will talk to the Taliban," the president said. "We hope that with the opening (of a Taliban office in Qatar)... the peace talks between the HPC and the Taliban start as soon as possible." The handover of the last 95 districts from NATO to Afghan control includes areas in the south and east where the Taliban have concentrated their insurgency since 2001. As Afghan soldiers and police take over the fight against the militants, the 98,000 foreign troops will focus on training and mentoring roles. "The reality is Afghan forces are not dreadful, but they're probably not sufficiently capable to drive the war to a conclusion," said Stephen Biddle, professor of international affairs at George Washington University. "My guess is they will be able to maintain the stalemate, provided the US pays their bills," he told AFP. The Taliban have a proven ability to strike at Kabul as the country prepares for presidential elections next year and the NATO withdrawal. Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, a leader of the ethnic Hazara minority who is likely to play a key role in April's presidential vote, was unhurt in Tuesday's bomb attack but his clothes were burnt. "Four of my guards are wounded and are in hospital," he told AFP. "I heard a big explosion on the side of the car. Only my cloak is a little burned, other than that I'm fine." Mohammad Zahir, the police investigations chief in Kabul, told reporters at the scene that three civilians were killed and 24 others, including some guards, were wounded when the improvised explosive device detonated. On Tuesday last week, a suicide car bomb killed 15 civilians outside the Supreme Court in Kabul. The previous day, gunmen fired grenades at the city airport. Despite the attacks penetrating the capital's defences, the effective response of elite Afghan security units has been widely hailed as a sign of increasing professionalism. Concern over the Afghan forces' capacity have been fuelled by high rates of desertion and fears for the future of foreign aid post-2014. On Friday, the US commander of the NATO mission in Afghanistan warned that gains secured over the last 12 years would be lost if donor nations cut back support after the foreign withdrawal. "We are not where we need to be yet," US General Joseph Dunford told foreign journalists. "The continued presence of the international community -- politically, in development and in security -- is necessary to sustain the progress that we have made." According to independent website icasualties.org, at least 3,336 foreign troops have died since the start of operations in 2001. http://ph.news.yahoo.com/afghan-lawmaker-escapes-kabul-suicide-attack-055040574.html 148

News - Afghanistan Blast in Kabul as Karzai Announces Last Tranche of Transition (Update) Tuesday, 18 June 2013 10:07Last Updated on Tuesday, 18 June 2013 22:20Written by TOLOnews.com

A convoy of Afghan MP Mohammad Mohaqeq was struck by a roadside bomb this morning in Kabul city, killing at least three civilians and wounding 30 others, officials said. Sources have confirmed to TOLOnews that Mr Mohaqeq has survived the attack but his six bodyguards were injured in the explosion. The 24 other injured are all civilians. The attack occured as the Afghan government and Nato held a ceremony in Kabul to announce the last tranche of security transition to Afghan forces, making the Afghan forces responsible for security of the whole country. The blast occurred at around 9 am in the Pol-e Sorkh area of Kabul city, near Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) building. The area is also a home for several international non-governmental organisations. “I saw three people falling down on the street and a woman with blood-soaked feet, the woman was helped by the police,” a witness told TOLOnews. The Head of Criminal Investigation Department of Kabul Police Gen. Zahir Zahir said, “The explosion occurred at 9 am. Three were killed and 30 including six bodyguards of the MP were injured.” The wounded have been taken to a nearby hospital. Hours after the explosion, Afghan MP, Haji Mohammad Mohaqeq warned that the Taliban and Al Qaida network still try to launch attacks on the political figures of Afghanistan. “Taliban and Al Qaida don’t know peace and stability, their language is terrorism and they want to harm Afghanistan’s leaders. I was in their hit-list and still I am, so this incident has happened,” Haji Mohammad Mohaqeq said. “People who are fighting for the benefit of foreign countries are trying to harm Afghanistan’s leaders and spread war and insecurity in the country,” The Head of National Front Ahmad Zia Massoud said. Meanwhile, TOLOnews reporter, Farhad Safi was also injured in the explosion. TOLOnews journalist at the blast scene, Haseeb Maududi, said windows of many buildings in the area were shattered. TOLOnews footage shows body parts in the area and a police vehicle which is badly damaged. No group including the Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. Last week, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vehicle at the gate of the Supreme Court in Kabul, killing 17 people and wounding 40 others. The Taliban group has vowed to intensify their attacks this summer. To watch the footage, click here: Nightly News Bulletin TOLOnews Poll

Do You Support the Taliban’s Doha Office Being Named the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan?

TOLOnews.com http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/10893-blast-in-kabul-as-karzai-announces-last-tranche-of-transition-update

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Afghan Taliban attack in Kabul throws peace talks into further doubt

By Mirwais Harooni and Hamid Shalizi KABUL | Tue Jun 25, 2013 4:36pm IST (Reuters) - Taliban militants attacked key buildings near Afghanistan's presidential palace and the U.S. CIA headquarters in Kabul, a brazen assault that could derail attempts for peace talks to end 12 years of war. The Taliban, who have said they are willing to take part in talks with the United States and Afghan President Hamid Karzai's administration, said they launched the early morning assault, which triggered a 90-minute firefight. A U.S. envoy was in Kabul on Tuesday to try to smooth the way forward for the stalled talks in the Gulf state of Qatar ahead of the pullout from Afghanistan of most of the NATO-led troops next year. He had been expected to meet reporters at the U.S. Embassy, but the conference was called off. Karzai was also due to attend, but his whereabouts were not known. A palace official said he was safe. A Reuters reporter at the palace said the attack began soon after 6.30 a.m. (0200 GMT) when at least one man opened fire with an automatic rifle close to a gate to the palace in central Shash Darak district. The fighting was over before 8 a.m. Reporters at the palace gates for security checks took cover when the firing started. A senior government official told Reuters four or five attackers had used fake identify papers to try to make their way through security gates in the Shash Darak district, which leads to Kabul's most tightly guarded areas. One car made it through, but a second vehicle was stopped and those inside began shooting. Grenades were thrown. The area is home to the presidential palace compound, the Ministry of Defence and an annexe of the U.S. embassy at the old Ariana Hotel. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's Afghanistan station is based there. Afghan forces and U.S. servicemen returned fire and explosions resounded through the area. Children walking to school were caught in the shooting, but escaped serious injury. A thick plume of smoke was seen rising from the Ariana at the height of the exchanges. One of the attackers was killed when he detonated a bomb on his body, the government official said, and three or four were killed by security forces. At least two Afghan security guards were killed. The U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, Jim Cunningham, condemned the attack and called on the Taliban to once again commit to the nascent peace process in Doha. "We remain steadfast in supporting the Afghan government and people against the scourge of terrorism and the violence directed against them," he said. REJUVENATING PEACE TALKShttp://in.reuters.com/article/2013/06/25/afghanistan-attack-president-palace- idINDEE95O02220130625 U.S. officials have been trying to rejuvenate peace talks in Qatar, thrown off course after rows last week over the opening there of a Taliban office. The U.S. envoy appointed to help Kabul pursue peace with the Taliban, James Dobbins, arrived on Monday and met Karzai and the Afghan body intended to negotiate with the insurgents. He told reporters that Washington was trying to determine if the Taliban were willing to engage in talks. In claiming responsibility for the attack, the Taliban said it had targeted the presidential palace, the CIA office and the defence ministry. But Afghan security officials told Reuters they believed it had been carried out by the Taliban-linked Haqqani Network. The Haqqani Network is accused of masterminding high-profile attacks in Kabul and is believed to have close links to al Qaeda. Adela Raz, a spokeswoman for Karzai, dismissed the suggestion that the palace had been under threat, saying any shooting had taken place far from the compound's walls. The defence ministry said the assault had been aimed at the Ariana. In southern Afghanistan, a roadside bomb killed eight women, two children and an elderly man travelling in a minivan in southern Kandahar province on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Kandahar government said. (Additional reporting by Dylan Welch; Writing by Dylan Welch; Editing by Ron Popeski) TOP NEWS WORLD SOUTH ASIAhttp://in.reuters.com/article/2013/06/25/afghanistan-attack-president-palace- idINDEE95O02220130625

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Articles concerning the situation for Hazara in Kabul

Afghan police shooting to kill ethnic minority in Kabul Police and Kuchi-Taliban attack Hazara demonstration Friday 13 August 2010, by Robert Maier Breaking news from Kabul today informs us that a demonstration by men, women and children to call attention to the violence being perpetrated against the Hazara people turned bloody, with several shot to death, allegedly through indiscriminate firing into the crowd by Afghan police. The large Hazara community in West Kabul has been closed off by police. This is the latest in a string of anti-Hazara attacks that began earlier in the summer with Kuchi insurgents attacking Hazara in the traditional Hazara area of Bamiyan. Thousands of Hazara were forced to flee the area, their homes were looted, and many of those left behind were beaten or killed. http://kabulpress.org/my/spip.php?article22807

Saturday, August 14th, 2010 | Posted by Hazara People

Hazara International Forum strongly condemns targeted killings of Hazaras in Kabul, Afghanistan LONDON, August 14th, 2010: Hazara International Forum strongly condemns unprovoked assault on property and life of Hazaras in various areas of Kabul, Afghanistan. The unfortunate incident, happening on 13th August, 2010 in different areas of West Kabul, has engulfed lives of over 25 innocent Hazaras who fell victim to indiscriminate firing of the Pashtun cum Taliban Nomads in perpetual attack. The Pashtun Nomads were helped by Afghan National Army and the Local Police who neglected their professional responsibilities of protecting lives and property of citizens but spared no time in opening fire at people protesting against ferocious attack of the Pashtun Nomads. HIF is deeply saddened of irreparable loss of human lives and condoles with the aggrieved families. HIF Central Chairman, Agha Marzooq Ali has called an emergency meeting of the Central Committee on Sunday, (15-08- 2010) at its headquarters to chalk out a pragmatic plan to take up this grievous issue with the UN, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and European Union. A delegation of Afghan Hazaras have also requested to meet the HIF Chairman and its members the same day to raise a concrete voice against brutalities and atrocities of the Pashtun Nomads who are being supported by the Taliban and local leaders to attack innocent Hazaras in Afghanistan. Liaquat Ali Hazara Secretary, Press and Communication, Hazara International Forum HazaraNation.com http://www.hazarapeople.com/2010/08/14/hazara-international-forum-strongly-condemns-targeted-killings-of-hazaras- in-kabul-afghanistan/

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3 Killed, Scores Wounded in Kuchi-Hazara Clashes Saturday, 14 August 2010 10:39 Written by TOLOnews

Nearly, three people were killed and thirty others were wounded in clashes between Kuchis and Hazaras in Kabul city

Kabul police officials also acknowledged their forces' fatality after reporting one police dead and 24 others injured in the Afghan ethnic conflicts. Meanwhile, some residents in Kota-e-Sangi commented that the demonstration staged by the Hazaras on Saturday caused their stores and shops to be looted. There are contradicting reports about the incident, but locals said that Kuchis (nomads) attacked them first, a claim denied by nomads. Locals said nomads attacked them when they were trying to start the construction work of their houses in Tapa-i-Korgh, a place in Daru-l-Aman area of Kabul. Locals also complained that nomads, who had guns had also beaten up some residents. The lands are said to be owned by the government, located near an area owned by Haji Nabi, the brother of the vice-President, Karim Khalili. One of the Hazara protesters said: "The nomads are armed and still threatening people." Some of the nomads deny it claiming that the Hazaras themselves attacked them and even threw grenades at them. The nomads claim that several nomads have been killed and wounded, and their tents have been burnt down. The nomads have left the area now. "My brother and my son have been killed," said one of the nomads, claiming that all the Hazaras were armed. Some of the security forces also confirmed that the nomads' tents were burnt down and that some of the nomads have been killed. After the clashes in this area, some of the Hazara people in Pul-e-Sukhta and Mazari Park in the west of Kabul, also took to the streets conducting violent protests. Witnesses say that protesters got in conflict with the police burning down several police check posts in the area. There have been clashes between Kuchis and Hazaras before in Maidan Wardak province over the use of pastures, but this is the first time that a clash between the two has broken in Kabul over land ownership. http://tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/281-outbreak-of-clashes-between-kuchis-and-hazaras-in- kabul

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Thursday, January 6th, 2011 | Posted by Hazara People

Australia pushes to forcibly deport Afghan asylum seekers Millicent Caffrey, Thursday, 6 January 2011

Picture: Regi Varghese Source: Northern Territory News

The Gillard Government has struck a deal with Afghanistan’s Karzai Government to allow Australian authorities to forcibly deport Afghans who do not want to return to the war torn country. The Memorandum of Understanding that was finalised last month bears striking similarities to Howard-era policies. Under the Liberal Government’s Pacific Solution Immigration officials sent asylum seekers whose claims for refugee status were rejected back to high risk countries such as Afghanistan. In 2002, enemy of the Taliban, Tour Gul, was killed in Afghanistan after he was deported from Australia. Another rejected asylum seeker Mohammed Hussain was decapitated by gunmen in front of his family after he was returned to Afghanistan in 2008. The Memorandum is the latest in a series of policy moves that contradicts Labor’s promise during the 2007 federal election campaign of a more humane attitude towards asylum seekers. Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd suspended claims for asylum by Afghans and Sri Lankans in April 2010 and also oversaw a four week standoff between 78 asylum seekers on board the Oceanic Viking in late 2009. Labor’s tough stance on asylum seekers was revealed in US embassy reports from October 2009 to be problematic, with Rudd’s former foreign policy and national security adviser in opposition, Peter Khalil, recommending that the leader reiterate to the Australian public that only 1000 asylum seekers entered Australian waters that year while 60,000 over stayed their visa. Despite the cables revealing that the US viewed Australia’s surge of asylum seekers was a “drop in the ocean,” Julia Gillard has continued an uncompromising approach in the proposed MoU and the establishment of a regional processing centre in East Timor. Director of the Edmund Rice Centre, Phil Glendenning, has scrutinized both these strategies, stating that Australia should not ask East Timor, one of the poorest countries in the region, to take its responsibility. Mr Glendenning also said he would “struggle” to take the assurances of the notoriously corrupt Karzai government that no repatriated Afghans will be harmed upon their return under the MoU. “I have visited the graves of asylum seekers who were returned to Afghanistan,” Mr Glendenning said. “No Australian policy should force people back. Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, has also expressed grave concerns for the safety of civilians.” The Government’s own Smart Traveller website instructs Australians “not to travel to Afghanistan because of the extremely dangerous security situation and the very high threat of terrorist attack”. Source: http://www.altmedia.net.au http://www.hazarapeople.com/2011/01/06/australia-pushes-to-forcibly-deport-afghan-asylum-seekers/

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Pashtun Suicide bomber kills civilians including Hazaras in Kabul

Thursday, February 24th, 2011 | Posted by Hazara People Failed asylum seeker killed in Afghanistan DutchNews | Wednesday 23 February 2011

Photo: Akhter

Short URL: http://www.hazarapeople.com/?p=3615 http://www.hazarapeople.com/2011/02/24/failed-asylum-seeker-killed-in-afghanistan/

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Wednesday, November 16th, 2011 | Posted by Admin NO EVIDENCE AFGHANISTAN SAFE ENOUGH FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS TO BE FORCIBLY REMOVED Australian Greens:The Australian Greens have expressed grave fears for the welfare of an asylum seeker the Australian government intends to deport back to Afghanistan this weekend.

“No matter what the Australian government says, we don’t believe Hazaras such as Ismail Mirzajan will be safe in Afghanistan,” Greens’ immigration spokesperson, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young, said today. “There are no guarantees that Hazaras will be safe, only a memorandum of understanding between Canberra and Kabul which is unconvincing and widely criticized for lacking credibility. “Afghanistan’s High Commission for Human Rights says the country is dangerous. Amnesty International made it clear today that Afghanistan remains very unsafe for Hazaras. “I have urgently written to the Immigration Minister expressing my concerns for Mr Mirzajan. It now in the hands of the Minister stop the deportation and I urge him to reconsider.” http://www.hazarapeople.com/2011/11/16/no-evidence-afghanistan-safe-enough-for-asylum-seekers-to-be-forcibly- removed/

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Afghans carrying a body on a bed for funeral, who was killed on Tuesday's suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011. A suicide bomber slaughtered 56 Shiite worshippers and wounded more than 160 others Tuesday outside a shrine where hundreds had gathered to commemorate the holiday of Ashoura, which honors the death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, in 680 A.D. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq) Afghan President Karzai vows to confront Pakistani government over Kabul suicide bombing Amir Shah, Heidi Vogt, The Associated Press Dec 07, 2011 11:24:00 AM

KABUL - Afghan President Hamid Karzai confronted Pakistan on Wednesday, saying a militant group based there was behind a suicide bombing at a Shiite shrine in Kabul that killed 56 people during commemorations of a holy day. Already under U.S. pressure to do more to battle extremism, Pakistan countered by demanding that Karzai provide evidence to back up his claim. "We do not discuss such matters through media," Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said, adding that Pakistan would encourage Kabul to share any evidence it has that the group in Pakistan was responsible. The attack was Afghanistan's first major sectarian assault since the fall of the Taliban regime a decade ago. It raised fears the conflict is taking a dangerous new turn with some militant groups targeting ethnic minorities such as the Hazara, who are largely Shiite and support the Afghan government and its Western partners. A man claiming to be from Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Alami, a Pakistan-based splinter group of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi that has carried out attacks against Shiite Muslims in Pakistan, has called various media outlets to claim responsibility for the Kabul bombing. Karzai said he believed this claim, although he did not elaborate. "We are investigating this issue and we are going to talk to the Pakistani government about it," Karzai told reporters as he visited a hospital where scores of people who had been wounded in the attack were being treated. He said the attack was not just an act of hate against Muslims, but against mankind. An American citizen was among those killed. "Afghanistan cannot ignore the blood of all the victims of this incident, especially the children," Karzai said. The president cut short a European trip and returned to Kabul Wednesday morning because of the attack. The Afghan leader has become increasingly bold in recent months in his criticism of Pakistan, which has a long history of backing insurgents in Afghanistan and trying to influence Afghan affairs from across the border. His stepped-up accusations come at the same time that U.S. relations with Pakistan have become increasingly antagonistic. The Taliban condemned the attack. Pakistani military spokesman Gen. Athar Abbas dismissed any suggestions that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has links to the country's intelligence agencies or that the government was not doing everything it could to quash the group. "Lashkar-e-Janghvi has declared war on the security forces in Pakistan," he told The Associated Press in an interview. He said the group has been implicated in some of the worst attacks on Pakistani security forces. “They are being hunted down," he stressed. Basit noted that the umbrella group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was banned in Pakistan. The bombing at the shrine in Kabul and a second attack against a Shiite vehicle procession in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif that killed four people have raised worries that an already violence-wracked country might be on the verge of dipping into a divisive religious conflict as well. The worshippers were commemorating the seventh-century death of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, in a procession called Ashoura.

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Afghanistan's Shiite community makes up about 20 per cent of the nation's 30 million population. Hard-line Sunnis consider Shiites nonbelievers because their customs and traditions differ from the majority sect but Afghans have long divided themselves more by ethnic group than by religion. Most attacks in Afghanistan are aimed at the government, international forces or those believed to be collaborating with them. These attacks have been more indiscriminate in recent years, with civilians regularly becoming the victims. Underscoring that trend, 19 people, including five children, were killed and six others wounded when a roadside bomb struck a minibus in Helmand's volatile Sangin district — a Taliban stronghold, provincial spokesman Daoud Ahmadi said. Back in Kabul, families gathered for funerals across the capital. In western Kabul, a group of mourners carried four bodies in a funeral procession through the city's largest Shiite cemetery. They carried pictures of the dead and shouted, "They are martyrs! We honour them!" One of the mourners said no place felt safe anymore. "Killing Muslims in front of a holy shrine, it is unbelievable," said Mohammad Nahim, 35. "Last night I told my children not to visit any shrines after dark. It is too dangerous." He said the graphic images of piled bodies came on the television as his family was eating dinner the night before and they all started crying. "The man who owned the shop on my street corner, the man I bought vegetables from, he was killed in the attack," Nahim said. A member of the city's Shiite council, meanwhile, said the attack showed no one can count on the government for protection. "There have been so many attacks, even against government officials, and still they can't stop these things," said Mohaqeq Zada. Nearly all the dead in Kabul were Shiites, though from a number of different ethnic groups. U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Megan Ellis said the American who died was not a government employee but would not give further details. Associated Press writers Rahim Faiez in Kabul, Mirwais Khan in Kandahar and Kathy Gannon in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report. http://www.news1130.com/news/world/article/306891--suicide-bombing-kills-56-at-shiite-shrine-in-kabul-stokes-fears- of-afghan-sectarian-strife

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The Irish Times - Wednesday, December 7, 2011 Kabul suicide bomb kills at least 55

The scene seconds after a suicide bomb targeted a Shia Muslim shrine in Kabul yesterday, where hundreds of worshippers, including women and children, had gathered for the festival of Ashura. At least 55 people were killed and about 150 injured in the attack. Photograph: Reuters/Najibullah Musafer

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JON BOONE in Kabul and SAEED SHAH in Islamabad

AT LEAST 55 people have been killed in a suicide bombing at a crowded Kabul shrine on one of the most important days in the Shia calendar, raising fears that radical insurgent groups are attempting to unleash a sectarian war in Afghanistan. About 150 people were wounded when the bomb exploded amid a throng of worshippers, including women and children, who were hemmed in on a street between the Abul Fazl shrine and the Kabul river. A second bomb, which killed four people in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, also targeted pilgrims heading to a commemoration of the holy festival of Ashura. A policeman who witnessed the Kabul attack said the suicide bomber worked his way into the centre of a crowd that had gathered to watch young men engaged in ritual flagellation to mourn the death in the seventh century of Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. “I saw bodies and limbs fly up into the air,” said Rohullah, another witness who was standing on a rooftop overlooking the procession of worshippers. Terrified survivors streamed away from the blast, leaving behind a horrific scene of carnage. Dozens of bodies, including those of women and children, lay scattered around a dark patch on the road where the bomb exploded. A Pakistani militant group with close ties to al-Qaeda said it carried out the attack, although security sources could not confirm the group’s involvement. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Alami claimed responsibility in a phonecall to Radio Mashaal, a Pashto-language radio station set up by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The Taliban were quick to condemn the bombing, which was the bloodiest single incident for Afghan civilians since 2008. Shia Muslims, who make up about 20 per cent of the population, and other minorities suffered during the years when the hardline Sunni movement was in power. But in recent times the Taliban have tried to portray themselves as a force for national unity. In an e-mailed statement, the movement described the attacks as “un-Islamic” and laid the blame with the “invading enemy”, one of the terms they use to describe the US-led Nato force in Afghanistan. They alleged foreigners were trying to foment unrest in order to extend the length of their stay in the country.

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The Taliban have stretched credulity in the past by denying responsibility for attacks that have killed large numbers of civilians and outraged public opinion. But Martine van Bijlert, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, said this time the denial “seems plausible”. “It doesn’t fit with what they have done in the past, unless it turns out that they, or a group or them, have quite fundamentally changed,” she said. Immediately after the blast in Kabul, scores of armed policemen rushed to the scene, throwing up a security cordon round the historic neighbourhood or Murad Khani, which is close to several government ministries. Stunned and tearful locals milled around the scene of the attack as loudspeakers still played recorded verses of the Koran. Furious young men stalked around the area of the bombing shouting at police and foreign journalists. People worried about missing relatives ran down traffic-free streets to get to the scene, while others crowded around a nearby hospital run by the Italian organisation Emergency. Many of the worshippers at the shrine in Kabul were Hazaras, a mostly Shia ethnic minority which was persecuted by the Taliban regime. Shortly after the attack in Kabul, a bomb carried on a bicycle exploded not far from the famous Blue Mosque in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif. Zahir Wahdat, the deputy governor of Balkh province, said four people had been killed and about five wounded. – (Guardian service) http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/1207/1224308683022.html

Amnesty International is a global movement of over 3 million people committed to defending those who are denied justice or freedom.

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Afghan forces take over security from NATO Tue, Jun 18, 2013

News - Afghanistan Blast in Kabul as Karzai Announces Last Tranche of Transition (Update) Tuesday, 18 June 2013 10:07Last Updated on Tuesday, 18 June 2013 22:20Written by TOLOnews.com

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Articles concerning the Situation for Christians in Kabul

Afghan Convert Musa Released; Another Christian Still in Prison Published: February 24, 2011 by damaris

Quiet diplomacy wins freedom for convert facing possible death penalty. After intense diplomatic pressure last week, authorities released Afghan Christian Said Musa, who had been in prison for nearly nine months on charges of apostasy (leaving Islam), punishable by death under Islamic law. Another convert, however, remains in prison. A source in Afghanistan told Compass that the 46-year-old Musa (alternately spelled Sayyed Mussa) was released last week and had left the country on Monday (Feb. 21), but the date of his release was not clear. Musa had written a series of letters from his prison cell, the last one dated Feb. 13, according to Compass sources. In that letter Musa, an amputee and a father of six, said that representatives of embassies in Kabul visited him and offered him asylum. After the representatives left, according to the letter, Musa was taken to another room where three Afghan officials tried to convince him to recant his faith. They promised to release him from prison within 24 hours if he would do so. He refused and was sent back to his cell. “I told them I cannot [follow] Islam,” he wrote in his letter. “I am Jesus Christ’s servant. They pushed me much and much. I refused their demands.” Details of Musa’s release remained confidential in order to protect him and his family, who still remain in danger, sources said. A source in Afghanistan close to Musa praised the efforts of the international community. “We feel that the release reveals that when many, many people come together trying to enforce justice, in some case like for our friend Said Musa, good things happen, even though it looks impossible,” said the source on the condition of anonymity. “The voices of the people outside Afghanistan who put pressure on the Afghan government and on the international diplomats have been heard.” When local churches and international bodies advocate for the persecuted in faith, he added, “they have the power to change things.” The source expressed frustration, however, over the slow process for releasing Musa, who had been in prison since May 31, 2010, and over lack of human rights and religious freedoms in Afghanistan overall. “All this battle during nine months against the government reveals a worse situation than ever about freedom of religion,” said the source. “It is very sad and discouraging, after almost 10 years of help from the international community.” Authorities arrested Musa and other Christians after the country’s most popular broadcaster, Noorin TV, in May broadcast images of Afghani Christians worshiping. The broadcast appeared on an AfghanTV show called “Sarzanin-e-man,” or “My Homeland,” hosted by Nasto Nadiri, 27, an outspoken opponent of the government and a parliamentary hopeful. Noorin TV station is opposed to the government and does what it can to “embarrass” it, a source said. The broadcast put in motion the events that got Musa arrested, according to sources. The hour-long TV show sparked protests throughout the country against Christians and a heated debate in parliament. In early June, the deputy secretary of the Afghan Parliament, Abdul Sattar Khawasi, called for the execution of converts from Islam. During that time many converts to Christianity left the country, according to sources, and many were arrested, though the exact number is unknown. Musa was concerned about the public outcry against Christians and went to his employer, the International Committee of the Red Cross/Red Crescent, where he fitted patients for prosthetic limbs, to request personal leave the morning of May 31. Authorities arrested him after he left the building, and his family could not locate him for nearly two months. Before being transferred to Kabul Detention Center in the Governor’s Compound in November 2010, Musa had suffered sexual abuse, beatings, mockery and sleep deprivation because of his faith in Jesus in the first months of his detention. According to the U.S. Department of State, estimates of the size of the Christian community in Afghanistan range from 500 to 8,000.

Still in Prison Still in prison is Shoib Assadullah, an Afghan Christian who has been in a holding jail in a district of Mazar-e- Sharif, in northern Afghanistan, since October. A recent letter from him suggests that his life is in danger. Assadullah was arrested on Oct. 21 for giving a New Testament to a man who reportedly turned him in to authorities. “Not only has my freedom been taken from me, but I [am] undergoing severe psychological pressure,” Assadullah wrote in a letter dated Feb. 17. “Several times I have been attacked physically and threatened to death by fellow prisoners, especially Taliban and anti-government prisoners who are in jail.” Assadullah became a Christian about five years ago. During his imprisonment, last month his mother died due to the stress of her son being in prison, according to the Christian.

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Assadullah, who has no legal representation, has also been pushed to recant his faith. Authorities have tried to build a case that he is insane in order to explain his change of faith and possibly to justify a more lenient sentence for him, sources have said. “My case is supposed to be sent to the court shortly, because the prosecutor has the right to hold a case only for 30 days,” Assadullah wrote. “The court’s decision is most definitely going to be the death penalty for me, because the prosecutor has accused me under the Clause 139 of the criminal code which says, ‘If the crime is not cited in the criminal code, then the case has to be referred to the Islamic sharia law.’” Sources said that there are diplomatic efforts underway for the secure release of Assadullah. In his letter, Assadullah wrote that freedom is a gift from God. “This means that we have to respect human freedom and dignity,” he wrote. “Clause 24 of Afghan Constitution says, ‘Human freedom and dignity is an unalterable right. The government is committed to respect and protect human freedom and dignity.’” END http://www.idag.no/aktuelt-under.php3?StorySubCategoryID=113&offset=800

Afghanistan suspends Christian groups after TV report Media Outlet: Agence France-Presse Reporter: Media Type: News Media Means: Wire Country: International Category: Current News Line Of Operation: Support Development Decisive Condition: Essential services provided to key areas

Agence France-Presse, 31 May KABUL—The Afghan government said Monday it had suspended two Christian aid organisations after a TV show reported they were proselytising, which is illegal in the devoutly Islamic country. The organisations -- Church Aid of Norway and Church World Service of the United States -- were being investigated after Norrin TV reported that they had converted Afghan Muslims to Christianity, the economics ministry said. Converting from Islam to another religion is punishable by death under Afghan law. "If they are found to be involved in proselytising, which our law says is a crime, they will not only be banned but referred to the law enforcing authorities to punish them," said ministry spokesman Mohammad Sidiq Amerkhail. "If the investigations prove they are not involved in such activities they will be able to proceed with their work," he told AFP. He said that both organisations had denied the allegations. Neither group could be reached for comment. In a series of reports, the little-known Afghan channel Noorin TV showed footage of men reciting Christian prayers in Farsi and being baptised. The television station said the men were Afghans who had converted to Christianity thanks to the proselytising efforts of the two groups. Afghanistan is an extremely devout Islamic country with a constitution based on traditional sharia law which strictly bans religious conversion. 31 MAY 2010 CJPOTF FUSIONCELL REPORT.doc - FMT atmospherics 18 Jan https://ronna-afghan.harmonieweb.org/.../31%20MAY%202010%20CJPOTF%20FUSIONCELL%20REPORT.doc

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-Afghanistan: Christian Converts Arrested and Threatened with Execution by Dr. D ~ June 26th, 2010

Afghan broadcaster Noorin TV did a expose’ that showed men reciting Christian prayers in Farsi and being baptized. The TV commentators claimed that the men were Afghans who had converted to Christianity through the efforts of two Western aid groups, the Norwegian Church Aid and Church World Service of the United States. Afghan authorities have suspended the two groups pending an investigation. The TV program resulted in major protests all over Afghanistan in most major cities including the one shown above at Mazar-e-Sharif and also one at Kabul University. Apparently it is still a capital crime in Afghanistan to convert from Islam even though the Afghan government signed on to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which is suppose to protect an individual’s “freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice”. Nevertheless, the Afghan Constitution is based upon sharia law which strictly bans religious conversion under the penalty of death. Response: It makes me wonder if we haven’t overstayed our welcome. The US should probably get the job done against the Taliban and al Qaeda as soon as possible and get the heck out of there. All ready the Afghans are shouting out ‘Death to America’ slogans? Not a good sign at all. With 100,000 troops there, the least they could do is protect the Christians and get them out of the country? However I doubt that our military forces will meddle in this Afghani internal dispute. But why are Americans dying over there in the first place if those folks want to live under Islamic extremist rule? Prayers are in order for the 20 or so converts now in jail. It doesn’t look good for those folks and their families. http://answersforthefaith.com/2010/06/26/afghanistan-christian-converts-arrested-and-threatened-with-execution/

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BREAKING NEWS: Afghanistan Christians Detained Amid Execution Threats Friday, June 25, 2010 (11:54 am)

Friday, June 25, 2010 (11:54 am)

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Over 20 Afghan Christians have been detained in Afghanistan after high-level leaders called for the arrest and execution of converts to Christianity in the Islamic nation, an advocacy group said Friday, June 25. Britain-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide said the Christians were detained since last week and added that non-Christians with ties to Westerners have also been targeted for interrogation. The names and ages of those detained were not immediately available. The reported arrests came after Abdul Sattar Khawasi, a deputy of the lower house, called for Muslim converts to Christianity to be executed. He expressed outrage over footage from Afghan broadcaster Noorin TV showing men it said were reciting Christian prayers in Farsi and being baptized. "Those Afghans that appeared in this video film should be executed in public, the house should order the attorney general and the NDS (intelligence agency) to arrest these Afghans and execute them," Khawasi said.

CONVERTING TO CHRISTIANITY Noorin TV said the men were Afghans who had converted to Christianity thanks to the proselytizing efforts of two Western aid groups, the Norwegian Church Aid and Church World Service of the United States. Both organizations have denied the allegations, but authorities suspended their activities pending an investigation. Qazi Nazir Ahmad, a lawmaker from the western province of Herat, said killing a converted Muslim was "not a crime" as converting from Islam to another religion is punishable by death under Afghan law. The Afghan constitution is based on traditional sharia law, which strictly bans religious conversion. In early 2003 a 41-year-old Afghan, Abdul Rahman, was granted asylum by Italy after facing a death sentence for converting to Christianity from Islam.

PRESIDENT PERSONALLY INVOLVED Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has made clear he is personally interested in following the issue of alleged involvement of international organizations in evangelism. There are more than 1,000 aid organizations operating in Afghanistan, mostly funded by Western countries, and some have been accused of preaching Christianity. CSW said however that Afghanistan violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights it ratified, which protects the individual’s “freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice”. Christian converts in Afghanistan have long faced "extreme obstacles and threats but recent events have brought to light the institutionalized nature of the danger," added CSW Chief Executive, Mervyn Thomas. "Groups continue to flee the country and an urgent plea for help from Afghan Christians in Delhi has been circulated among Christians around the world."

INTERNATIONAL PROTESTS DEMANDED CSW said it has urged the international community to improve security of Afghan Christians and to urge Afghanistan's government to adhere "to their obligations under international law.” News of the threats against minority Christians was expected to add to urgency of General David Petraeus who United States President Barack Obama named as the new commander for the war in Afghanistan, where NATO troops fight Taliban militants. The Armed Services Committee was to hold a hearing for the Army general next Tuesday, June 29 . Both Republicans and Democrats have said they back Petraeus for the job and Obama expressed his trust. "He has my full confidence," Obama said. Petraeus replaces General Stanley McChrystal, following a magazine interview in which McChrystal and his aides criticized the U.S. administration. http://www.bosnewslife.com/13224-breaking-news-afghanistan-christians-detained-amid-execution-threats

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Kill the Christians RELIGION | Lawmakers and protesters in Afghanistan are calling for just that | Mindy Belz

ASSOCIATED PRESS/PHOTO BY REZA SHIRMOHAMMADI It has never been easy to work as a Christian—local or foreign—in Afghanistan. But since a video was broadcast on Afghan television showing the baptism of converts in Kabul, the danger has escalated—and the tiny minority suddenly finds itself a potentially sizeable pawn in a game of political chess. Privately owned Noorin TV first broadcast in late May videotape coverage of a baptism, along with Afghans taking part in Christian prayer meetings in alleged “missionary safe houses” in western Kabul. Although at least two years old, the footage was replayed on several television stations and triggered a frenzied anti-Christian response: Hundreds of students joined street protests at Kabul University, shouting death threats and demanding the expulsion of foreigners. Demonstrations also spread from the capital to other cities, including Herat, Baghlan, and Mazar-e-Sharif. Two of the Afghan Christians who appeared in the broadcast were arrested and shown again on national television. The next day (May 31), the deputy secretary of the lower house of parliament, Abdul Sattar Khawasi, called from the parliament floor for the public execution of the Afghan converts. Other members of parliament condemned the activities of foreign non-government organizations (NGOs), and that same day two were suspended from working in the country: U.S.-based Church World Service and Norwegian Church Aid. The groups deny they have been involved in proselytizing. Both have had major operations in Afghanistan: Church World Service employs 190 people there, and Norwegian Church Aid, with 50, was in the midst of an $8 million project. Waheed Omar, spokesman for President Hamid Karzai, announced on June 1 that the president had ordered steps to prevent further conversions to Christianity. According to sources, authorities drew up a list of 14 NGOs and 25 or more foreign and local Christians to be investigated for Christian activity. A statement released Friday by Barnabas Fund, a U.K.-based aid group, reports that authorities have searched homes in Kabul, and dozens of Afghan Christians have fled their towns, some even leaving the country. Several NGOs also report that they have been visited by security officials, and in some cases asked to record for the government the names of all employees. WORLD began receiving information about the crackdown at that time, but at the request of several organizations concerned about the safety of their employees and of local Christians agreed not to publish the information then. But a group of Afghan Christians living in New Delhi issued the following statement: “We do not know how the whole world and especially the global church is silent and closing their eyes while thousands of their brothers and sisters are in pain, facing life danger and death penalty and are tortured, persecuted and called criminals.” Barnabas Fund president Patrick Sookhdeo told me he also believed that Western Christians need to understand and speak out about what’s happening to Christians in Afghanistan: “Just as the United States fractured Iraq and so Christians there had to go to the wall while the U.S. did not defend them, much of this is happening again in Afghanistan.” On June 5, the Afghan minister of the Interior and the director of the Security Department resigned suddenly. The official reason was that they had not prevented a Taliban attack on a peace conference Karzai attended June 2 in Kabul. But both officials also worked at one time for Western NGOs, including Norwegian Church Aid. Why would government officials go to such lengths to silence a handful of minority religious believers? Because Christians, who in the eyes of many Afghans are associated with Westerners, are seen as a tool to bring pressure and embarrassment on an increasingly unpopular President Karzai. Noorin TV, which first broadcast the tapes, is funded by the Northern Alliance and seen as anti-government. Burhanuddin Rabbani, a former president of 166

Afghanistan, now heads an affiliated opposition group in parliament and came out against Karzai during the last election. The problem also stems from the ambiguity in Afghanistan’s constitution, which was largely brokered with assistance from the United States in 2003-2004 (see “Dress rehearsal?” Jan. 17, 2004). It created an Islamic republic that granted freedoms and democracy with “Islam as its sacred religion.” While Article 2 grants that followers of other religions “are free to perform their religious ceremonies within the limits of the provisions of law,” Article 3 states, “No law can be contrary to the sacred religion of Islam.” Under Islamic law, converts from Islam become guilty of apostasy, which is punishable by death. In 2006 a case surfaced against Abdul Rahman, an Afghan citizen who was arrested for converting to Christianity and threatened with the death penalty. Under heavy international pressure, including from the Vatican, officials released him and he was granted asylum in Italy. The pressure for Karzai to deal forcibly with converts comes as he is seeking to lure Taliban leadership into peace talks with the government and wants to demonstrate his independence from NATO and U.S. leadership. But as Sookhdeo of the Barnabas Fund points out, NATO and U.S. funds underwrite the Afghan government, and it is a signatory to UN standards: “It should be held accountable.” Copyright © 2010 WORLD Magazine Articles may not be reproduced without permission Published June 18, 2010 http://www.worldmag.com/webextra/16862

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Afghan Christians Plead for Help as they are Exposed and Threatened with Execution

Published: Friday 18 June 2010 Country: AFGHANISTAN

We do not know how the whole world and especially the Global Church is silent and closing their eyes while thousands of their brothers and sisters (Body of Christ) are in pain, facing life danger and death penalty and are tortured, persecuted and called criminals,

wrote a group of Afghan Christians in New Delhi, India on 9 June. Full Text of the Letter avaialable here.

TV programme triggers anti-Christian frenzy Towards the end of last month, TV footage was broadcast on various channels in Afghanistan showing alleged Afghan Muslim converts to Christianity, including scenes of baptisms. Although at least two years old, the footage triggered a frenzied anti-Christian response, including a protest by a group of Kabul University students who shouted death threats and demanded the expulsion of foreigners accused of proselytising. There have been numerous demonstrations since then in different cities throughout the country - Herat, Baghlan, Mazar-e Sharif and again in Kabul. Two of the Afghan Christians who appeared in the broadcast were arrested and shown again on national TV on 30 May, just three days after the first airing of the original broadcast. One was pressured on the TV show to return to Islam and the other was shown repeating the Islamic creed and asking forgiveness for having left Islam. The TV moderators urged viewers to find more Afghans who had left Islam and report them to the police.

Afghan Parliament threatens NGOs and converts On 31 May the Deputy Secretary of the Afghan Lower House of Parliament (the Wolesi Jirga), Abdul Sattar Khawasi, called in parliament for the public execution of the Afghan Christians shown in the TV programme. Some members in the House strongly condemned the activities of foreign bodies involved in preaching Christianity in Afghanistan and called for proselytising groups to be expelled from the country. The Speaker of the House said that “we need to investigate the situation. It may be that some Afghans want to make a case to resettle in the West. If there are genuine conversions, then we need to take it seriously.” On the same day, 31 May, two NGOs with the word “church” in their name were suspended, accused of promoting Christianity. Both the organisations (Norwegian Church Aid and the US-based World Church Service) denied that they had been proselytising. Other NGOs were put on a list for further investigation. On 1 June, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said that the president was taking a personal interest in the situation and had ordered immediate and serious action to prevent any more conversions. In the following days, many homes in Kabul were searched. Dozens of Afghan Christians fled their towns and some even left the country. On 5 June there was another debate in parliament. Interior Minister Hanif Atmar said that they had been investigating the issue of conversions for the last two years. He announced that the government had a list of 23 people, Afghans and foreigners, whom they were seeking to arrest. The first station to broadcast the TV footage that triggered all these events was Noorin TV, a private TV station funded by the Northern Alliance, the political opponents of President Karzai. Could it be that these allegations were made in order to discredit and destabilise the already precarious government at this crucial time? What is clear is that vulnerable Afghan Christians are being made a scapegoat in pursuit of other objectives.

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Historical pattern repeated Throughout the Islamic history of Afghanistan there has always been persecution of non-Muslims. Converts from Islam are especially despised because, according to sharia (Islamic law), such apostates should be executed. At the end of last year Islamic religious leaders in Afghanistan issued a fatwa demanding the death penalty for all apostates.

Equality and freedom – where and for whom? Western governments are spending billions in the effort not only to protect their own national security but also to establish a free, peaceful and democratic Afghanistan. Their soldiers are fighting and shedding their blood to protect Afghanistan’s government and citizens from terrorist attacks by the Taliban. These efforts are headed by the US military whose commander-in-chief, President Obama, is himself, according to sharia, an apostate from Islam. Yet the official version of Islam, as promoted by the religious authorities and by the state itself through its various arms, denies the right of religious freedom (which includes the right to change one’s religion) to Afghan citizens, and on the basis of sharia threatens converts with the death penalty. Muslim apologists in the West repeatedly assert that true Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance, yet very few raise their voices to protest such violence and intolerance and to support the right of fellow Muslims to practise the religion of their choice free from threats and persecution. In most of the Muslim media around the world, Christian mission is still being described as an aggressive attack on Islam that must be banned. At the same time, Muslim states like Saudi Arabia are freely propagating Islam in the West, and presenting it as a moderate, tolerant and peaceful religion.

A call for change It is time for real change by abolishing the Islamic law of apostasy and guaranteeing equality and freedom of religion to citizens of all faiths in Muslim countries, including converts from Islam to Christianity.  We call on Christians around the world to protest against the travesty of justice, peace and tolerance taking place in Afghanistan.  We call on Western governments to intervene on behalf of the persecuted Christians of Afghanistan and not sacrifice them to the vagaries of realpolitik as has often happened in various contexts. (The decimation of Iraqi Christianity following the 2003 Western intervention is but the latest example.)  We call on Muslim governments to protect their Christian minorities, including converts from Islam, from all elements within society seeking to harm them, and ensure that an effective legal framework guarantees the rights of all to freedom of religion.  We call on Muslim communities in the West, who are enjoying religious freedom and able to pursue Islamic mission and gain converts to Islam, to protest at what is happening in Afghanistan and demand that the persecution of Christians in the name of Islam be stopped and the law of apostasy be abolished.  We call on Christians engaged in mission to Muslims to accept the reality of Islamic outrage about Muslims converting from Islam and protect converts to Christianity by being extremely wise and discreet in all they publish and broadcast.  We call on President Obama, a Christian with family links to Islam who is very concerned for Muslim rights in the West to help Afghan Christians threatened by the intolerant aspects of Islam.

Further Information

For more information on Islam’s apostasy law, see Freedom to Believe: Challenging Islam’s Apostasy Law by Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Fund. (Isaac Publishing, 2009) ISBN 978-0-9787141-9- 2. Copies can be ordered here from www.barnabasfund.org. You can also follow this link to read the full text of the foreword by Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali. http://barnabasfund.org/Afghan-Christians-Plead-for-Help-as-they-are-Exposed-and-Threatened-with-Execution.html

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About the humanitarian situation for refugees in Kabul

12.01.2013, 02:47 BBC News.co.uk 0 Add to favorites Afghan children succumb to harsh winter weather

For nearly a week Taj Mohammad has not had time to grieve for his three-year-old son. Janan had tottered out of the mud shelter when Mr Mohammad had gone in search of firewood, his daily routine for the past five winters. The toddler was barefoot and did not have enough clothing for the freezing temperatures outside. "When Janan returned, he had a high fever. We tried to keep him warm with whatever little clothes we have. But he died in the evening," Mr Mohammad said. Janan was among about 10,000 displaced people, mostly from Helmand province, who live at the Qambar refugee camp on the outskirts of Kabul. Last winter, more than 100 children died in the cold weather in the numerous refugee camps that surround the Afghan capital. Twenty-six of them died in the same camp where Janan lived. Mr Mohammad's small mud shelter - covered only with a tattered tarpaulin roof - is typical of the conditions that families in the camps have to endure. The small dingy room has no mattress or cushions. Mr Mohammad points to the bare essentials - a bucket, a half-full tin of flour and an empty small bag of charcoal - and then signals towards his eight children huddled in a corner to keep warm. "Last night, I had no food," he said. "I swear to you, we did not eat. There are a lot of people in the camp who don't have food." Mr Mohammad says that he did not have time to mourn for his son or his uncle who also died as a result of the cold a few days ago. "I have to worry about those who are alive," he says pointing to his children. "We need help. If help doesn't come, more children will die." Qambar's proximity to Kabul - the power centre of Afghanistan - has once again raised questions over the competence of the government to protect its people. The camp is less than 20km (12 miles) from the presidential palace, the US embassy, Nato headquarters and the offices of international organisations overseeing billions of dollars in aid to the country. But Minister of Refugees and Repatriations Jamaher Anwari says the government is doing all it can to help. "For the last month there has been regular distribution of winter supplies in these camps," Mr Anwari says. The minister rejects reports that the deaths in Qambar were due to a lack of fuel, food or clothing. 170

"Janan may have died because of ill health," he says. Afghanistan has received $58bn (£36bn) in aid over the past 10 years, at least $3.5bn (£2.17bn) of which was in humanitarian aid. According to the UN refugee agency, there are 460,000 internally displaced people in the country. Nearly 35,000 of these are in 54 camps in the Kabul area. The UN accepts there are problems in getting aid to those most in need. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Protection Officer Douglas Di Salvo told the BBC that the country continues to be challenged by conflict, poverty and lack of development. He said that the most vulnerable Afghan citizens are living on the edge of survival - their lives threatened by a lack of heating and food. Mr Mohammad and his family are now trying to come to terms with this harsh reality. But it is a difficult and painful struggle. Recently the people of Camp Qambar had to endure another tragedy - a four-year-old girl named Sabeah from Helmand province died as the cold weather bit. She was the second child to die in the space of a week. "We are relying on God and good luck to survive this winter," Mr Mohammad said ruefully. Resources: Afghan children succumb to harsh winter weather http://unity.lv/en/news/792855/

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