September 5, 2002

6:31 AM

Car Bomb Rocks Central Kabul, Many Dead:"Two explosions rocked Kabul today, killing at least 15 people, sending panicked citizens running and causing serious structural damage in the Afghan capital, authorities and witnesses told CNN. Many were wounded [in the blasts], which took place near the Ministry of Information and Culture, but it is not clear if the ministry was the target."
posted by tranquileye (12 comments total)

I try not to be a Metafilter content nazi, but how does this not fit the much derided category of "newsfilter"?
posted by Irontom at 6:39 AM on September 5, 2002

I try not to ba a metafilter, content nazi.
posted by johnnyboy at 6:46 AM on September 5, 2002

hey, when panicked citizens run, its some serious shit man.
posted by quonsar at 6:49 AM on September 5, 2002

I try not to be a Metafilter content nazi, but how does this not fit the much derided category of "newsfilter"?

Two posts today already. There are quite a number of news posts on any given day. How is this one different? Besides, I think this one well deserves to be discussed considering the fact that this is the first time since the new regime has been in place that we've seen a 'terrorist' attack of this scale in Afghanistan. What are the ramifications here? By invading the country did we cure the disease or just open up new wounds, etc...
posted by poopy at 6:53 AM on September 5, 2002

And now Fox News is reporting that Afghan president Karzai has just survived an assassination attempt by one of his own security guards.

Something's up at the OK Corral me thinks.
posted by snarkywench at 7:24 AM on September 5, 2002

I morosely suspect there will be a flurry of activity at the OK Corral and elsewhere in the coming week
posted by ElvisJesus at 7:36 AM on September 5, 2002

snarky

I humbly submit that the whole 9-11/Afghanistan War mess began with Massood's murder a few days before 9-11

Today is what...? 9-5?
posted by matteo at 7:36 AM on September 5, 2002

Looks like American security guards was a good idea -- and well-timed.

This bomb was Hekmatyar's, there's practically no doubt. He played spoiler to the last coalition government, before the Taliban, in much the same way; and when he could, his allies would shell the city at random. The man's middle name is chaos.
posted by dhartung at 8:01 AM on September 5, 2002

Do you remember how skeptical people were about the Afghanistan campaign: the Taliban is a formidable force, it would be like Vietnam, the Soviet didn't make it, etc. Well, I was part of that school, and I was wrong when it comes to invading Afghanistan. But I re-read the history of the country's different conflicts. And something struck me: neither the British (first and second Anglo-British war) nor the Soviet had serious difficulties marching in. It's staying that's so difficult. In all three cases the Afghani backlash took some time to build up, and then they started to strike back - with success. I hope history isn't repeating itself.
posted by ugly_n_sticky at 8:46 AM on September 5, 2002

dhartung's right to point the finger at Hekmatyar, who was declared persona non grata by Iran in February and headed back into Afghanistan. The idea that he's in cahoots with the Taliban top brass seems pretty far-fetched, given that he was famous for his opium smuggling, but loyalties can easily switch in the lower tiers. And I can't help thinking that the rumours linking Pakistan's ISI to Hekmatyar are closer to the truth. Still, another case of a CIA protege biting the hand that fed it.
posted by riviera at 9:12 AM on September 5, 2002

BOOM!
posted by car_bomb at 10:50 AM on September 5, 2002

And boom, again.
posted by riviera at 4:37 PM on September 6, 2002