Published 09:43 IST, September 11th 2019
US Embassy in Kabul hit by a rocket on the anniversary of 9/11 attacks
A rocket has exploded at the US Embassy in Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul. This comes on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks that led to the US-Afghan war
A rocket exploded at the US Embassy in Afghanistan on Wednesday, which is also the anniversary of the 9/11 attack on the United States, but officials at the compound declared all-clear about an hour later and reported no injuries. A plume of smoke rose over central Kabul shortly after midnight and sirens could be heard. Inside the embassy, employees heard this message over the loudspeaker: "An explosion caused by a rocket has occurred in the compound." Although there was no immediate comment from the Afghan officials.
First major attack in the Afghan capital
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) mission said no personnel had been injured. It was the first major attack in the Afghan capital since President Donald Trump abruptly called off US-Taliban talks over the weekend, on the brink of an apparent deal to end America's longest war. Two Taliban car bombs shook Kabul last week, killing several civilians and two members of the NATO mission. Trump has cited the death of a US service member in one of those blasts as the reason that he now terms the US-Taliban talks "dead."
The 9/11 anniversary is a sensitive day in Afghanistan's capital and one on which attacks have occurred. A US-led invasion of Afghanistan which began on October 7, 2001, right after the 2001 attack toppled the Taliban, who had harboured Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader and attacks mastermind. In the nearly 18 years of fighting since then, the number of US troops in Afghanistan soared to 100,000 and dropped dramatically after bin Laden was killed in neighbouring Pakistan in 2011. Now about 14,000 US troops remain and Trump has called it "ridiculous" that they are still in Afghanistan after so long and so many billions of dollars spent. It is not clear whether the U.S.-Taliban talks will resume
Peace talks with Taliban are "dead"; says Donald Trump
On September 9, 2019, Donald Trump declared that peace talks with the Taliban are “dead”, he further stated that the United States has hit the Taliban harder in the last four days as opposed to any given time in the last 10 years. The US President stunned the world on Saturday when he announced the cancellation of a secret meeting with the Taliban and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani at Camp David near Washington. It came after the Taliban claimed responsibility of an attack in Kabul last week, in which an American soldier was among the dead.
The US has been conducting peace talks with the Taliban and the two sides were hopeful of a deal that included America cutting down on troops in Afghanistan and guarantees by Taliban of not allowing the Afghan soil to be ever used again for terror activities. "They (talks with the Taliban) are dead. As far as I'm concerned, they're dead," Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.
The precursor to America beginning its 18-year long war
The September 11 attacks also referred to as 9/11 were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda against the United States. The attacks took place on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, with about 2,900 people being killed and over 6,000 people injured. This was the precursor to America beginning its 18-year long war with Afghanistan as a measure to break down the al-Qaeda and to remove the Taliban from power.
(Inputs from PTI)
Updated 11:16 IST, September 11th 2019