Afghanistan: Taliban Intensifies Attacks in Advance of International Conference

Dexter Filkins of the New York Times reports in an article entitled, “Kabul Attack Shows Resilience of Afghan Militants,” on the attack made by Taliban militants early Monday morning in the city of Kabul. According to Filkins’ article a total of five people were killed during the course of the attacks with another 71 being injured. The assault, consisting of a group of militants and two suicide bombers, took place in a busy city center in the middle of Kabul. The primary of target of the attacks was the Central Bank, though the Presidential Palace and the Ministry of Justice, both located in Pashtunistan Square, were in close proximity to the area under assault. In response to the attacks several hundred Afghan soldiers were deployed.

Filkins reports that the assault is the most recent operation in a series of incidents designed to instill a sense of panic among the citizens of Kabul. Filkins also comments that urban centers were targeted due to the concentration of U.S. troops in the rural countryside, and that this concentration as led to a recent upsurge in assaults concentrated in urban locals.

The assaults lasted approximately 5 hours, leaving a popular Afghan shopping area in ruins. Of the seven Taliban carrying out the attacks, 2 were suicide bombers, the remaining 5 were killed during the course of the following conflict. Spokesmen for the Taliban greatly exaggerated the number of militants carrying out the assault, reporting that approximately 20 suicide bombers had been dispersed to the city’s center and that some 40 plus government officials had been killed.

Taliban representatives  stated that the attacks were in response to American and Afghan proposals to “reconcile and reintegrate Taliban fighters into mainstream society.” This proposal, an essential tenet of Obama’s plan for peace in Afghanistan, was meant to be revealed later this month at the International Conference on Afghanistan in London. The conference is designed to bring Afghan leaders and the international community together in order to discuss the strategies for democracy and development in Afghanistan. Policymakers will develop milestones for improving the Afghan government with followup conferences to take place Kabul designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the aforementioned milestones.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Taliban, is quoted in response to the proposed policy as saying, “We are ready to fight, and we have the strength to fight, and nobody from the Taliban side is ready to make any kind of deal.”

Evan Hill in his post entitled, “Taliban Launches Raid in Kabul; Gov’t says 5 dead 38 wounded,” urges that the January 18th assault not hinder U.S. and Afghan plans to reintegrate members of the Taliban back into society. Hill comments, “It might be a slap in the face, but it doesn’t seem to me as if an assault by a few dozen fanatics undermines the entire effort to bring certain Taliban back into society.”