Jan.22: The Taliban attack in the heart of Kabul last Monday (January 18) has been universally described as "brazen". Several terrorists tried to enter the Afghan central bank building, which is next to the presidential palace and the ministry of justice building. One of the men wearing an explosives vest tried to blast through the entrance of the bank. A vigilant guard shot him down, but the man managed to blow himself up. Seeing that the bank entrance had not been breached, the rest of the terrorists entered a shopping mall next door, ordered all the people out and started firing at random towards the government buildings. After more than five hours of shooting and explosions, the Taliban terrorists were finally killed. Clearly, they had expected to go down fighting.
What they had proved once again is that the Taliban could strike at will anywhere in the heart of Kabul, the citadel of Afghanistan protected by the US military. The Taliban have managed to strike at a number of key targets within the city in recent times, including, among others, the ministry of justice, a United Nation’s guesthouse and the Indian embassy. All these have been suicide attacks meant to send a message.
This time too, as the New York Times pointed out, the "effect of the attack seemed primarily psychological, designed to strike fear into the usually quiet precincts of downtown Kabul — and to drive home the ease with which insurgents could strike the American-backed government there". A Washington Post reporter quoted locals who shared this view: "This is to show the Afghan government and the internationals that they can carry out an attack one kilometre from the presidential palace".
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5:43 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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