A Taliban attack against ISAF headquarters of the Afghan campaign muddies

Kabul, 15 Aug 2009. - The Taliban now muddied the Afghan campaign with a suicide bombing that caused seven deaths in front of the ISAF headquarters in Kabul, which occurred just hours after an attack with seven rounds against the Spanish military base in Herat in the west.
At 8.30 am (0400 GMT), a deafening roar gave way A dense column of white smoke from the fortified district of Wazir Akbar Khan and visible from several points of Kabul.
They are based, among other buildings, the U.S. embassy and the headquarters of ISAF, the NATO mission in the country, as far as suicide came aboard a vehicle that blew up despite to the tight security.
The Afghan Ministry of Defense confirmed that the attack killed seven people and wounded to another 91, mostly Afghan workers waiting at the gates of the headquarters of the organization to enter the premises.
In a statement, ISAF recognized that the explosion took the lives of several civilians and several soldiers were also injured foreigners, but without to specify the number of victims.
The attack was claimed by the Taliban, whose spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid said Efe by telephone from an undisclosed location that the purpose of suicide was to attack the U.S. embassy and the headquarters of the ISAF.
"(The attack) was executed with an SUV loaded with 500 kilograms of explosives," said Mujahid, who said he killed 25 people.
Local channels broadcast images of the teams of firefighters and rescue services efforts to extinguish the fire caused by explosion, including concrete blocks and security barriers that protect the central capital area.
The city of Kabul is under a strong surveillance patrol of ISAF, Afghan troops and local police, surrounding government buildings and access control the tracks which are headquartered foreign embassies.
Despite As a result, the Kabul airport yesterday received the impact of two projectiles, according to the U.S. military, after eight more rockets fell in the city on August 4, launched from nearby rural areas to the capital.
In the rest of the country, despite the additional deployment of troops on the occasion of the elections, the Taliban have increased in recent weeks attacks and several rockets were fired yesterday on the Spanish Forward Support Base for the second time in a week.
The General Staff of the Spanish Defense (EMAD) detailed in Madrid that were released between 22.35 and 22.55 local time (18.05 and 18.25 GMT) on the basis, although there were no deaths or injuries.
Afghanistan held on August 20 presidential elections and to provincial councils, but the Taliban have asked the public to boycott the elections and have launched attacks across Afghanistan the process.
As well as threatening who vote to cut off fingers, insurgents have staged looting of candidates for office, killed activists and attempted to end the lives of several leading Afghan politicians.
On Thursday, former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, a supporter of opposition candidate Abdullah Abdullah, escaped unhurt from a Taliban ambush on their convoy as he traveled the northern district of Kunduz.
The candidate to vice president Mohamd Qasim Fahim, a former "warlord" who concurs in the list of the current head of state, Hamid Karzai, had another similar attack in late July, although unhurt.
"The enemies of Afghanistan, such attacks on the eve of the elections, they want to create fear among the people. But they must know that the Afghans know the importance of going to vote, "Karzai said today after the suicide bombing in Kabul in a statement.
His press officer, Sediq Sediqqi confirmed Efe that Karzai keep his campaign events and maintained that the Taliban "will fail to change the will of the people" despite his efforts to shake up the electoral process.

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Thematic area:

1. Finish the campaign with a massive rally Taliban opposition and called for a boycott
2. Taliban advance and desire for development of the population make the campaign
3. Climate of insecurity and attacks on the eve of elections in Afghanistan
4. Government assumes that Taliban will practice mass intimidation at the polls
5. The democratic turn of the old Taliban