Taliban targets foreigners in Kabul
Source: Agencies |
February 27, 2010, Saturday
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Insurgents struck in the heart of the Afghan capital Kabul yesterday with suicide attackers and a car bomb, targeting hotels used by foreigners and killing at least 17 people and wounding dozens, police said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks, which Afghan President Hamid Karzai said were aimed at Indians working in Kabul.
The Taliban has long opposed India's involvement in the country and its ties to the Northern Alliance that helped the US oust the Taliban regime in 2001 and formed the backbone of the Karzai government.
India's foreign minister said up to nine Indians were killed, including government officials.
An Italian diplomat and a French filmmaker were also among the dead. Three Afghan police were killed, and six more officers were among the 38 people wounded, the Afghan government said.
The four-hour assault began about 6:30am with a car bombing that leveled a residential hotel used by Indian doctors.
A series of explosions and gun battles left blood and debris in the rain-slicked streets and underscored the militants' ability to strike in the heavily defended capital even as NATO marshals its forces against them in the volatile south.
Dr Subodh Sanjivpaul of India said he was holed up in his bathroom for three hours inside one of the small hotels where he lived with other Indians.
"The suicide attack took place in our residential complex," Sanjivpaul said at a military hospital where his wounded foot was bandaged. "When I was coming out, I found two or three dead bodies. When firing was going on, the first car bomb exploded and the full roof came on my head."
The Kabul attacks came two weeks into a major offensive against the southern Taliban stronghold of Marjah, where thousands of US, Afghan and NATO soldiers are battling to drive insurgents out. The British government said one of its soldiers was killed yesterday by an explosion while on a foot patrol, the 14th NATO soldier to die in the operation.
In recent weeks, more than two dozen senior and mid-level Taliban figures have been detained in Pakistan, suggesting the attacks in the capital could be a way for the militants to show the insurgency remains potent.
Karzai condemned yesterday's assault as a "terrorist attack against Indian citizens" who were helping the Afghan people. He said it would not affect relations between India and Afghanistan.
India's Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna called the attacks "barbaric" and a matter of "deep concern."
"These are the handiwork of those who are desperate to undermine the friendship between India and Afghanistan," he said in a statement.
The Indian Embassy in Kabul has been the target of two major attacks, one in July 2008 that killed more than 60 and another last October that killed 17. India accused Pakistan's main spy agency of involvement in the 2008 attack.
Yesterday's attack comes a day after India and Pakistan held their first official talks since India suspended peace negotiations following the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that it blamed on Pakistan-based militants. India insisted on Thursday that Pakistan still needed to take more aggressive efforts to rein in anti-Indian insurgents in Pakistan.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks, which Afghan President Hamid Karzai said were aimed at Indians working in Kabul.
The Taliban has long opposed India's involvement in the country and its ties to the Northern Alliance that helped the US oust the Taliban regime in 2001 and formed the backbone of the Karzai government.
India's foreign minister said up to nine Indians were killed, including government officials.
An Italian diplomat and a French filmmaker were also among the dead. Three Afghan police were killed, and six more officers were among the 38 people wounded, the Afghan government said.
The four-hour assault began about 6:30am with a car bombing that leveled a residential hotel used by Indian doctors.
A series of explosions and gun battles left blood and debris in the rain-slicked streets and underscored the militants' ability to strike in the heavily defended capital even as NATO marshals its forces against them in the volatile south.
Dr Subodh Sanjivpaul of India said he was holed up in his bathroom for three hours inside one of the small hotels where he lived with other Indians.
"The suicide attack took place in our residential complex," Sanjivpaul said at a military hospital where his wounded foot was bandaged. "When I was coming out, I found two or three dead bodies. When firing was going on, the first car bomb exploded and the full roof came on my head."
The Kabul attacks came two weeks into a major offensive against the southern Taliban stronghold of Marjah, where thousands of US, Afghan and NATO soldiers are battling to drive insurgents out. The British government said one of its soldiers was killed yesterday by an explosion while on a foot patrol, the 14th NATO soldier to die in the operation.
In recent weeks, more than two dozen senior and mid-level Taliban figures have been detained in Pakistan, suggesting the attacks in the capital could be a way for the militants to show the insurgency remains potent.
Karzai condemned yesterday's assault as a "terrorist attack against Indian citizens" who were helping the Afghan people. He said it would not affect relations between India and Afghanistan.
India's Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna called the attacks "barbaric" and a matter of "deep concern."
"These are the handiwork of those who are desperate to undermine the friendship between India and Afghanistan," he said in a statement.
The Indian Embassy in Kabul has been the target of two major attacks, one in July 2008 that killed more than 60 and another last October that killed 17. India accused Pakistan's main spy agency of involvement in the 2008 attack.
Yesterday's attack comes a day after India and Pakistan held their first official talks since India suspended peace negotiations following the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that it blamed on Pakistan-based militants. India insisted on Thursday that Pakistan still needed to take more aggressive efforts to rein in anti-Indian insurgents in Pakistan.
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