[Peace-discuss] Siege of Kabul on schedule

[C. G. Estabrook]

[Ahmed Rashid, tho' cried up in by some on the left, is a supporter of the US 
occupation.  --CGE]

Thursday, February 12, 2009

In the wake of yesterday's Taliban attacks on three government buildings, Afghan 
troops are attempting to put Kabul on lockdown as U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke 
is due to arrive later today. All eight attackers were killed by security forces 
yesterday bringing the total death count to 28. A suicide bomber blew himself up 
outside a police station in Eastern Afghanistan earlier today.

Holbrooke is arriving from Pakistan where he visited the violent Afghan-border 
regions yesterday. In Pakistan, Holbrooke received a litany of requests for 
money and military aid as well as complaints about U.S. airstrikes in Pakistani 
territory. Nevertheless, writer Ahmed Rashid, who also met with Holbrooke, 
described the visit from a prominent U.S. civilian envoy as a "sea change in 
what Pakistan is used to.”

Afghan intelligence officers are investigating links between Pakistan and 
yesterday's attacks, Al Jazeera reports.