[R-G] Karzai under fire at ceremony

[Anthony Fenton]

Karzai under fire at ceremony
Afghan president, Canadian ambassador forced to take cover during gun  
battle
By The Associated Press
Mon. Apr 28 - 9:40 AM
http://thechronicleherald.ca/World/1052521.html
	

KABUL — Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Canadian ambassador Arif  
Lalani were among the dignitaries forced to take cover Sunday when  
automatic gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades rained down on a  
ceremony marking 16 years since the overthrow of the country’s Soviet- 
backed rule.

Three people were killed.

Karzai, his cabinet and all foreign diplomats who were present managed  
to safely escape the chaos, a statement from the presidential palace  
said.

The presidency said Nasir Ahmad Latefi, a local Shiite leader, and a  
10-year boy died in the attack. Afghan parliamentarian Fazel Rahman  
Samkanai died of his injuries at a hospital, Defence Ministry  
spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said.

Hundreds of people fled in chaos as shots rang out. Firing appeared to  
come from ruined houses about few hundred metres from where the VIPs  
were seated. A live TV broadcast of the ceremony on a parade avenue in  
Kabul was quickly cut.

Witnesses could also hear heavy weapon fire.

An Associated Press reporter saw President Karzai escorted from scene,  
surrounded by bodyguards and leaving in one of four black Land Cruisers.

Karzai later appeared on national TV and said some suspects were  
arrested.

"President Karzai condemns this act and asks for all the people to  
remain calm," the palace statement said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier issued a statement Sunday,  
saying Canada "strongly condemns" the attack.

"This senseless act of violence injured and killed innocent Afghans,  
including civilians and security personnel."

Bernier offered condolences to the families of the victims and wished  
"a full and speedy recovery to those who were injured."

"This attack will not deter us in our support for the Afghan people,  
President Karzai and the Afghan government," he added.

Bernier said that as of late Sunday, there had been no reports of any  
Canadian injuries. The Canadian Embassy in Kabul was monitoring the  
situation, he said.

Lalani, the Canadian ambassador, praised the Afghan security forces  
for their response.

"We heard some shots, and then a few more, and it became clear ....  
that we ought to leave," he said.

"It might not have looked that way on television but the exit was  
about as orderly as it could have been under the circumstances."

Sirajudin, a police officer at the scene, said he saw two people  
firing AK-47 assault rifles from a house opposite where Karzai was  
sitting. UN spokesman Aleem Siddique cited a UN diplomat at the scene  
as saying between three and five people opened up with small-arms fire  
toward the dignitaries.

The gunfire erupted as the national anthem ended at ceremonies marking  
the capture of Kabul from the Soviet-backed government by the  
mujahedeen in 1992.

In video footage shown live on Afghan TV, two lawmakers who were  
sitting about 30 metres from Karzai were seen to be hit by the  
gunfire. One of the men slumped back in his seat, while the other lay  
on the ground.

People at the ceremony ducked for cover then fled — among them Afghan  
police and soldiers who were assembled for the pageantry. Karzai had  
just completed a drive-past in a U.S.-supplied Humvee jeep.

Security forces deployed elsewhere opened fire at the houses where the  
attackers appeared to be.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the assassination  
attempt.

Zabiullah Mujaheed said four insurgents launched the attack against  
Karzai near the national stadium where the event was held. Mujaheed  
said the insurgents were wearing suicide vests and carrying AK-47s and  
rocket-propelled grenades to attack Karzai.

There was no immediate report of any suicide bombing.

Ambassador Lalani says public events with heads of government in any  
country always entail security risks, but would not speculate on the  
events of the day.

"I mean open events, with heads of government, require security, but  
also entail some risk. I wouldn’t conclude more from that, than that,  
until we know all of the details, and they are confirmed." he said.

In Kandahar, Ahmed Wali Karzai, the president’s younger brother,  
called it good news to hear the president was unharmed, but he  
lamented the fact the attack was allowed to occur in the first place.

"Terrorism is everywhere in the world, but the thing which hurts me is  
that security was not strong enough," said Karzai, who called the  
attackers "the enemy of Afghanistan."

"If the president is not safe, what can we say about the civilians and  
the other people working with international organizations?"

Mohammad Saleh Saljoqi, a legislator at the ceremony, said two rocket- 
propelled grenades landed near the dignitaries and there was  
continuous AK-47 fire.

One rocket hit inside the Eid Gah mosque opposite where Karzai was  
sitting. The second hit when the president had already left, landing  
about 50 metres away, Saljoqi said.

He said the bullets were fired from the west of the where the  
officials were sitting.

The attack came despite unprecedented tight security for Sunday’s  
anniversary. For days Kabul was ringed by checkpoints with security  
forces and intelligence officials searching vehicles. The area where  
the ceremonies took place had been blocked by troops, tanks and  
armoured personnel carriers.

It doesn’t bode well for Afghanistan’s violence-racked south —  
particularly Kandahar province, where Canadian troops are based —if  
the seat of the national government is in danger, said Abdul Ali, a 36- 
year-old Kandahar city businessman. "Afghan intelligence must improve  
their activities, because Kabul is the centre (of the government)," he  
said. "If people including the president are not safe there, what can  
we say about southern region?"

’We heard some shots, and then a few more, and it became clear . . .  
that we ought to leave. ’
arif lalaniCanadian ambassador

		
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