Afghan parliament attack

The Taliban in Afghanistan have mounted one of their most complex and audacious operations in recent times. They attacked the Afghan parliament while it was in session, and maximised the publicity for the attack as the session was being broadcast live to the country. Dramatic images of a smoke-filled chamber and parliamentarians leaving in a hurry will not have been lost on a population that is witnessing a considerable surge in Taliban operations, much as was widely predicted would happen once the coalition forces left the country.

The attack opened with a massive car bomb detonating at the parliamentary gates, followed by a penetration of the compound and — not for the first time — inwards fire from an under-construction building close by. The Afghan police and security services fought the attackers, eventually killing all six. No parliamentarian was reported hurt, but 18 civilians and members of the defending forces were wounded. The Afghan Taliban were quick to put out a statement saying that the attack was timed to coincide with the vote to endorse a new defence minister.

Once again the Afghan Taliban have demonstrated just how far they are from being beaten, and with successes in the northern province of Kunduz in the last week where they overran a heavily fortified police post, they show themselves as militarily capable as they ever were, and have gone on to take two districts of the province. In the south-west, they have strengthened their hold over the province of Helmand. With peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban looking like they might be flickering into life again, it is possible that the latest attack is designed to ensure that the Taliban go to the negotiating table with the strongest possible suit in their hands. The government of Ashraf Ghani is fragile, a shaky coalition that is pulled in all directions by internal divisions. The Afghan National Army is itself far from united, indifferently trained and equipped, and often poorly led. The unpalatable reality is that the Afghan Taliban are a stakeholder in Afghanistan, something emphasised by the events of June 22 in Kabul.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 23^rd, 2015.

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