Taliban target morale: suicide attacks in Kabul designed to strike fear, War on Terror, NewAgeIslam.com

War on Terror

Taliban target morale: suicide attacks in Kabul designed to strike fear

By Indranil Banerjie

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".

http://newageislam.com/taliban-target-morale--suicide-attacks-in-kabul-designed-to-strike-fear/war-on-terror/d/2473

Marriott blast message: US must stop raids inside Pak, War on Terror, NewAgeIslam.com

War on Terror

Marriott blast message: US must stop raids inside Pak

By Indranil Banerjie

American newspapers subsequently reported that US President George Bush had authorised special forces operating in Afghanistan to cross the border to attack targets within Pakistani territory if required. Quoting senior US officials, these reports said that this order contravened the agreement with the Pakistani Army that no cross border raid would take place without the prior approval of the Pakistani government. The reports were confirmed when the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, at a Congressional hearing in Washington, said that US forces in Afghanistan would revise their strategy to target "safe havens" within Pakistan. America’s public radio service, NPR, reported that the Bush administration has approved a three-phase plan to capture top Al Qaeda leaders and had authorised military strikes inside Pakistan. The report maintained that this was an "11th-hour effort to hammer Al Qaeda" before the Bush administration left office. The suggestion that the Pakistani Army had approved all this was forcefully contested by its Army chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who rejected US claims that the rules of engagement gave Coalition Forces in Afghanistan the right to enter Pakistan. He declared that the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would be defended at all costs. "There is no question of any agreement or understanding with the coalition forces whereby they are allowed to conduct operations on our side of the border," he declared.

http://newageislam.com/marriott-blast-message--us-must-stop-raids-inside-pak/war-on-terror/d/797