Karzai Was Warned
The New York Times reports that Afghan President Hamid Karzai was warned ‘that an attack was being planned on a military parade on Sunday, when he escaped an assassination attempt.’ The country’s intelligence chief told Parliament on Tuesday that two ‘groups of attackers were thwarted the same day, though a third succeeded in opening fire on the ceremony.’
Mr. Saleh was called before Parliament, along with the defense and interior ministers, to explain the security failings. They hung onto their jobs when Parliament moved a no-confidence vote on each of them in a daylong session in which lawmakers criticized their performance, that of the government and even the president.
The men blamed differences among the various security forces and gaps in communication for the failures. Mr. Saleh and some lawmakers complained that reforms of the army, the police, intelligence services and the presidential guard left the forces uncoordinated.
Mr. Saleh gave the most detailed account of the events and appeared to lay the blame with the American-trained presidential guard. The force, which is independent of the three security ministries and answers directly to the president, was responsible for the security of one square kilometer, or less than half a square mile, around the parade ground, assisted by the intelligence service, he said…
Intelligence officials had learned that a three-pronged attack was being planned, with a mortar team, a suicide bomber and a third team, Mr. Saleh said. Security forces arrested men with mortars on one of Kabul’s mountainsides, and also caught a suicide bombing group, he said.
What’s most troubling about the attack is that it’s likely that the terrorists, the Taliban, were assisted by someone close to Karzai / in charge of the president’s security. How else were they able to come so close? Either the presidential guard is one useless guard, or the attackers were helped.
You choose.
Mr. Wardak, who had overall responsibility for the parade and whose troops provided a ring of security around the capital, also admitted that the security forces had failed. “What happened was really shameful,” he said. “Clearly it was a blow to our national and international prestige.”
The interior minister, Zarar Ahmad Muqbil, whose police officers are generally seen as the weakest of the law enforcement forces, said little, but admitted to gaps in security.
You can say that again. I saw images of Afghan soldiers fleeing the scene.
