The Afghan capital awoke on Friday to a state of siege following an assassination bid against its president, Hamid Karzai, and a devastating car bomb that killed 26 people and wounded 150.
The streets Kabul are closed to traffic, armed men stand guard at intersections, armoured cars from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) prowl the boulevardes, and cars are stopped and searched.
The deployment of security forces is especially visible in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighbourhood in the city’s east, where ISAF headquarters and several embassies including the US mission are located.
Moving around this neighbourhood has become a real headache. The avenue separating the main entrance to the ISAF headquarters and the US embassy, and also leading to Karzai’s offices and the Defence Ministry, is completely sealed.
Armoured ISAF vehicles are stationed at the top of the avenue at the Masood roundabout and block traffic.
It is also impossible to move near the German embassy or the US troops’ headquarters, where even more cordons of security are encountered and cars are parked across the road.
Early on Friday, an ISAF representative representative told journalists that the 4 700-strong force had beefed up its own security.
Afghan forces have also been deployed beyond the embassy
quarter. At most intersections armed soldiers are deployed alongside traffic police.
Opposite the Istiqlal school, soldiers search cars.
But further on, close to the information and culture ministry and busy marketplace where the car bomb exploded mid-afternoon on Thursday, life has returned to normal.
Even on Friday, the Islamic day of prayer and rest, thousands of Kabul residents were doing their shopping.
On the other side of the interior ministry, roadblocks set up the previous day have been removed. The extra security measures were expected to be maintained, even reinforced, as the anniversaries of the assassination of Northern Alliance commander Ahmad Shah Masood and the September 11 terror attacks in the United States approach.
”The latest terrorist incidents have created enormous worry in the heart of the Afghan security forces,” said ISAF representative Simon Ryan, adding that the Turkish-led force was ready to respond to demands for assistance and reinforcement.
But in a grim warning, he said that it was impossible to entirely prevent future attacks.
”Without entirely sealing off the city or disturbing the daily life of Kabul’s inhabitants, it is not possible to prevent every terrorist attack,” Ryan said. – Sapa-AFP