Anti-Karzai attack in Kabul shakes US puppet government

Karzai narrowly escaped with his life. Cabinet ministers, members of parliament, Afghan and NATO military officials and foreign diplomats, including US Ambassador William Wood, ducked and ran or were whisked to safety when anti-government forces opened fire on a military parade being held to celebrate the 16th anniversary of the overthrow of the Soviet-backed government in 1992.

Insurgent forces targeted the reviewing stand for the Mujahedeen Day commemoration, situated across from the citys largest mosque. They employed small arms fire and mortars or rocket-propelled grenades, killing one member of parliament and a Shiite clan leader and wounding another 12 people. A 10-year-old boy was killed in the crossfire between the attackers and security forces.

The Taliban immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out by a team of six militants. Later in the day, a second Islamist group, headed by former US ally Glubuddin Hekmatyar, said it had carried out the assault.

Since the attack, the government has rounded up hundreds of suspects in Kabul and sealed off entire sections of the city, while intelligence officials conduct dragnet-style searches.

The ability of anti-occupation forces to launch such an attack is all the more remarkable given the extraordinary measures that were taken to secure the event, which was being televised live across the country

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