By Bill Van Auken
http://www.wsws.org
12 February 2009
Coordinated attacks by Taliban guerrillas left at least 26 dead and 57 wounded in the heart of Kabul Wednesday, while paralyzing the Afghan capital for hours. The sophisticated operation, which targeted three government buildings, underscored the mounting crisis confronting the eight-year-old US occupation of Afghanistan and the American-backed puppet regime of President Hamid Karzai.
The attacks came just days before the scheduled visit to Kabul of President Barack Obama’s special envoy, Richard Holbrooke, who is conducting what he has described as a “listening tour” that is a prelude to a major escalation of the US intervention throughout the region.
At least five guerrillas carrying Kalashnikov rifles and explosives stormed the Afghan Justice Ministry after killing two guards. They were able to take control of several floors of the government building, killing a number of officials and forcing the minister of justice and others to barricade themselves in their offices.
Meanwhile two others struck at the directorate of prisons in a Kabul suburb and an eighth attacker was killed outside the Education Ministry.
[…]
via Afghanistan: Attacks in Kabul expose US occupation’s deepening crisis.
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Taliban attacks Afghan ministry – 11 Feb 09
Taliban fighters have carried out twin attacks in the heart of Kabul.
Police sourrounded the ministry of justice complex after an armed group stormed the building.
Al Jazeera’s Todd Baer reports.
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Security tight in kabul after suicide bombings
US special envoy, Richard Holbrooke’s mission has moved on to Afghanistan, where security has been stepped up following a series of attacks on the capital on Wednesday.It’s not the first time the Taliban has penetrated this area recently.
Holbrooke will face many challenges, among them, bringing security to the capital.
Al Jazeera’s Hamish MacDonald reports from kabul.
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see
America’s New Asian Quagmire – Graveyard of Empires by Tom Burghardt
Whistling Past the Afghan Graveyard – Where Empires Go to Die By Tom Engelhardt
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Pingback: Destabilizing Pakistan, America Plays with Fire by Tom Burghardt « Dandelion Salad
This war is a no win situation, and has been from the get go.
That the Obeyme Regime wants to add 30,000 troops is a general displayed of dumbfuckedness.