HOME | IMC UK | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Support Us

Oxford Indymedia

Afghanistan: Largest Blast in Kabul for three Years

Paul | 05.09.2004 17:14 | Oxford

I have lived and worked in Afghanistan (you remember) for almost a year. I send regular news and personal analysis on what is happening on the ground. Check the short security reports I have attached. More companies are pulling out weekly.

Afghanistan: largest bomb in Kabul for three years

I was happily sitting in a hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan when I saw on BBC World Service that a large vehicle bomb had exploded in an area of Kabul where there are a lot of International aid offices and guest houses. This is where my office is. The target was offices of DynaCorp, a US security contractor. This company reports to the state department and besides giving protection to President Kharzai is also dealing with poppy eradication although this would probably be officially denied. Most reports do not mention this. As for my office, all the windows were blown out but no one was injured. As part of security regulations all windows must be covered in blast film which means that instead of shattering they fall out in one piece. Often in bomb blasts more people die of flying glass than the blast itself. At the time some colleagues were sitting on the roof resting after work and said it was like being hit in the back and pushed forward. The blast was about 200 meters away as the crow flies which gives some indication of the size. Dyna Corp is very well protected with large concrete blocks around a high fence and with lots of armed Gurkas guarding it inside and out. If they can get hit it shows how easy it is to do the same with softer targets like aid agencies.

There is speculation about the reasons for the attack. One is that it was an effort to disrupt the elections but if this was the case why didn’t they blow up a UN office or even better kidnap and kill an election worker. Perhaps they were concerned to keep it military against military. As I said Dyna Corp has been unofficially involved in poppy eradication and this has upset quite a few people who rely on it for their annual income as well as commanders who will have lost their cut. Many Dyna Corp staff are mercenaries and not too gentle. They have probably stepped on quite a few toes.

A lot more violence is expected as you can see from the attached security reports. However, most people are just carrying on with their lives. Afghans have seen it all before and although a little shaken the aid organizations and UN are so far continuing as normal with heightened security and lots of speculation concerning how things will develop in the 5 weeks to the elections.

Car accidents are at present just as much of a risk with probably the worse driving I have seen in any country (see photo). If it was not for the holes in the road slowing things up there would be far more accidents.

Most people seem to want Khazai. As they say in the land of the blind the one eyed man is king. Those who I have talked to have been pragmatic and believe if Khazai wins more US aid will come into the country and America will be more concerned about maintaining security. Certainly when one sees the rogue’s gallery of other candidates there does not seem to be much choice. The US in the mean time is settling down to be here for a long term. They may live to regret it.

Paul

Comments

Display the following 2 comments

  1. Do we care?? — Steve
  2. Most do not care — Harry
Publish your news
-->

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Oxford Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech