US ‘very concerned’ about Karzai attack

WASHINGTON—The White House said Monday that it was “very concerned” by a weekend attack which saw Afghan President Hamid Karzai survive a hail of rockets and bullets that killed three people. “Thankfully, President Karzai was not harmed. Unfortunately, and very sadly, eleven others were wounded and I’m not exactly sure the number who lost their lives,” said spokeswoman Dana Perino.
“We are very concerned about it, the terrorist threat is real, it is deadly, and defeating this enemy has to be a top priority of the United States, of the Afghan government, of the Iraqi government, and the NATO alliance who is there working with the Afghan government,” she told reporters. “I think that they’ll continue to look at how they could have done better in order to make sure that this does not happen again,” said Perino.
Afghanistan authorities were investigating how militants could get within 500 meters (yards) of Karzai and other top leaders to carry out a brazen attack on the nation’s biggest annual military parade. The insurgent Taliban movement said it launched Sunday’s attack to show it had the power to strike even such a high-profile ceremony.
The event, which was supposed to showcase the Afghan army’s growing strength after getting new training and equipment, mainly from the United States, had been weeks in the making with stepped-up patrols and roadblocks around Kabul. Karzai immediately announced an investigation to find out how the militants breached security to hammer bullets into the back of the stage where he was seated with a host of Afghan and foreign dignitaries as well as launch rockets.
Afghan security officials hunted Monday for suspects in the attempted assassination of President Hamid Karzai during an attack that killed three people and underscored the fragility of his U.S.-backed government.
Militants also wounded eight people when they fired rockets and automatic rifles at Karzai and other dignitaries during a Sunday ceremony in Kabul to mark the mujahedeen victory over the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault, which sent Karzai and foreign ambassadors scurrying for cover. Three of the attackers were killed, the government said, but the Taliban said additional attackers were involved. Sunday’s strike launched so close to Karzai was a serious security lapse at a time when the Afghan police and army are expanding and the government is demanding greater control of security, still provided in much of the country by U.S. and NATO-led forces.
Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, a spokesman for the defense ministry, said that the authorities were investigating who could have helped the assailants perpetrate the attack. The gunfire apparently came from a three-story guesthouse about 300 yards from the stands where Karzai was seated alongside Cabinet ministers and senior diplomats, who all escaped unharmed. Residents said a 30-minute gunbattle broke out between security forces and gunmen holed up in the guesthouse. “Thankfully, President Karzai was not harmed,” White House press secretary Dana Perino said Monday.
“The terrorist threat is real, it is deadly, and defeating this enemy has to be a top priority of the United States, of the Afghan government, of the Iraqi government, and the NATO alliance,” Perino said. NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Sunday’s attack demonstrated once again that the Taliban “will use the most extreme violence to oppose Afghanistan’s freedom and democratic development.”—Agencies