Three rockets landed near the presidential palace on Tuesday, moments before Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was to give an address.
A spokesman for the interior minister said there were no injuries and that the missiles had only been able to hit outside of heavily fortified grounds.
A rocket barrage came in around the time Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was to give his address during Eid al-Adha. The rockets missed Kabul’s heavily fortified presidential palace, with no reported injuries but a few lucky for those who were nearby and still able to hear Ghani speak about this year’s holiday season after all of it had come to an end.
The palace is at the center of a complex, but it isn’t immune to a rocket attack.
The police were quick to respond and have this terrorist act under control quickly enough that no one was hurt or killed in the incident. They say they’ve found evidence linking terrorists from an area outside Baghdad with previous acts of terror against Iraq’s government buildings as well as military targets here in town, too!
The war-torn country of Afghanistan is concerned with the withdrawal of foreign forces during their final days in combat. Many are fearful that as these national armies withdraw, chaos will ensue and violence will spike throughout this strife-ridden nation – only to be fueled by Taliban encroachment on key border crossings from neighboring countries such as Pakistan.
“This Eid has been named after Afghan forces to honor their sacrifices and courage, especially in the last three months,” Ghani said in his address to the nation following morning prayers for Eid al-Adha, or the “Feast of Sacrifice.”
“The Taliban have no intention and willingness for peace,” Ghani said. “We have proven that we have the intention, willingness and have sacrificed for peace.”
The threat of violence has crept past the borders and Afghanistan is on high alert. With foreign forces withdrawing from combat, many fear anarchy will be quick to follow as these national armies withdraw. The Taliban have already begun infiltrating neighboring countries like Pakistan with plans for a war zone that’s fueled by chaos and violence.
Ghani also denounced his government’s decision to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners last year as a “big mistake” that only strengthened the insurgents.
“We released 5,000 prisoners to start peace talks, but until today the Taliban haven’t shown any serious or meaningful interest in peace negotiations.”
New peace talks with the Taliban have been taking place in Qatar and Abdullah Abdullah, a high-level government official, was recently at those meetings. The results of these discussions are still unclear but it is promising that they were able to take such an important step forward together.
In his speech, Ghani also assailed neighboring Pakistan. For many years now the Taliban leadership has been headquartered in Islamabad and they were provided with a haven from their Afghan neighbors across the border. The recent fighting near Spin Boldak revealed more evidence of Pakistani complicity when it was seen that fighters had fled over to a hospital on this side of the border for medical treatment after being wounded at home base by Afghani forces. With so much bloodshed already happening thanks to these militants’ insurgency against Kabul’s rule, can anything be done?
Pakistan is not only critical of Kabul, but they also say that Afghanistan has allowed the Pakistani Taliban to find safety and launch attacks against their military. Pakistan believes this will lead to more violence in both countries.
“Pakistan does not want a Taliban regime in its homeland” but their media have been “campaigning for a Taliban regime in Afghanistan,” Ghani added.
The Eid al-Adha is the most important Islamic holiday, marking a time in scripture where it was nearly required that Abraham sacrifice his son. As Muslims celebrate this holy event during four days of feasting and remembrance, they also slaughter sheep or cattle to appease their hunger for meat as well as provide some of the bounties back to those less fortunate than themselves by distributing part of what has been slaughtered.
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