Police had cordoned off the streets for three blocks around the site of the siege [Jennifer Glasse/Al Jazeera]
Islamic Emirate, (Afghan Taliban) have claimed responsibility for an attack on a guest house in Kabul frequented by foreigners as part of Taliban Spring Offensive Operation Azm. Associated Press reported an Afghan government official claiming 14 persons were killed in the hotel attack, including 9 foreigners which was said to include 2 Indian nationals and one US citizen.
Ali M Latifi tweeted,
why aren’t the other two given any identifier, even nationality? “the five dead — included the American and two Indian citizens
Nooria Muradi tweeted back
unfortunately when they are Afghan their lives seem less important hence everyday Afghans die.
Security forces took 5 hours to clear the Park Palace Guest House where people were gathered for an evening of entertainment. According to CNN, Kabul Police Chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi claimed,
“Afghan special forces killed the three armed assailants behind the attack” and “security forces rescued more than 50 people from the hotel, including trapped guests. Of the dozens rescued, at least five people were wounded.”
Information issued by an English speaking Twitter account affiliated with Islamic Emirate contradicted the comment from Rahimi saying there was only one attacker. (See series of tweets on attack and official statement regarding the Islam Emirates reaction to the latest NATO announcement on Operation “Enduring Partnership” as follows….)
Abdulqarhar Balkhi
Martyrdom seeker (Muhammad Idrees Logari) armed with rifle, grenades, exp/vest, IEDs entered Park Palace guesthouse in Kabul city 9pm Wed
Attack targeted around 100 foreigners most US citizens as they were holding meeting inside, killing & wounding nearly half (in Taliban Spring Offensive Operation) Azm, Afghanistan.
Attack only carried out by 1 person who fought till early morning hours, not 3 persons as reported by media. No invader safe after warning.
News reported late due to security reasons…
Reaction of Islamic Emirate regarding latest announcement by NATO
The military alliance of NATO announced on Wednesday in the city of Antalya in Turkey that it will maintain military presence inside Afghanistan after the year 2016.
We strongly condemn this announcement by the invading countries. The Afghans will never tolerate, even for a single day, presence of foreign forces under whatever name and title inside our country.
The invaders want to protect their soldiers and workers from Mujahideen attacks and instead utilize their hirelings as cannon fodder.
Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate however have plans in place to target secure US-Nato military and civilian areas in order to punish them for their crimes and not allow them to breathe serenely.
We know the invaders very well. So long as they have a military presence inside our country, their civilian efforts under whatever name and title will not find security. Anyone contributing in war efforts against the Afghans will be our targets. Will we continue our Jihad against them and their hirelings until we have forced out all invading troops from Afghanistan and paved a way for the establishment of a pure Islamic government, Allah willing.
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
25/07/1436 Hijri Lunar
25/02/1394 Hijri Solar 14/05/2015 Gregorian
End
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The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released a statement condemning the attack stating,
“These deliberate attacks on civilians are atrocities,” said the Georgette Gagnon, UNAMA’s Human Rights Director. “Taliban statements on avoiding civilian casualties ring hollow when we set them against the latest killings. The Taliban should abide by their commitments and immediately stop deliberately attacking civilians.”
UNAMA highlights that international humanitarian law, which binds all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan including the Taliban, prohibits attacks against civilians and civilian locations, such as civilian government offices and hotels, at any time and in any place whatsoever. Such acts may amount to war crimes”
See full statement on following link…
The security situation in Afghanistan appears to be getting worse, “in the first four months of 2015, UNAMA documented a record high number of 2,937 civilian casualties (974 civilian deaths and 1,963 injured), a 16 percent increase over the same period in 2014.”
Abdulqahar Balkhi did clarify a further point yesterday in relation to foreigners, civilians, stating,
“any Muslim/non-Muslim not part of NATO alliance working for humanitarian cause is not considered an invader. There are proper procedures in place for humanitarian orgs to contribute positively in Afghanistan.”
See following article,
“Islamic Emirate condemn alleged killing of 4 hunters in US airstrikes and NATO plans for ‘Enduring Partnership'”
The Taliban are fighting for the full implementation of Sharia law and operate from an Islamic perspective which has clear rules for the treatment of civilians and protection of life in conflict situations.
Thousands of civilians, Muslim and non-Muslim residing in countries belonging to the NATO alliance marched in protest BEFORE the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions but their governments ignored calls not to go to war.
Link
“Censored article: Time for a complete withdrawal in Afghanistan, we should never have invaded in the first place”
Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights/WOT and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad. She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.
Carol Anne Grayson (Radical Sister) blog 