Taliban complex attack in Herat fails
Image via WikipediaFour Taliban suicide bombers dressed as police and women attacked the main United Nations compound in western Afghanistan on Saturday, officials said, but there were no casualties among U.N. staff.Of course there is more violence. We have more troops in places the Taliban used to dominate. It is how we are going to defeat them if we stick around long enough.
The attack with rockets, machine guns and bombers hit the U.N. compound in Herat, a commercial hub and the largest city in the country's west where Taliban and other Islamist insurgents are usually less active than in other areas.
Afghan forces and U.N. security guards at the compound repelled the insurgents. Two attackers, including a car bomber, blew themselves up at the entrance and another detonated his bomb just inside, while a fourth was shot and killed, police, government and U.N. officials said.
It was the highest profile attack on the United Nations since last year and will raise questions about security in a city that NATO officials believe could be among the first to see Afghan forces take responsibility for security from NATO troops.
"This was a complex attack with rockets, machine guns plus suicide bombers. The attack was repelled, they did not succeed," U.N. envoy to Afghanistan Staffan de Mistura told Reuters.
"No U.N. staff were wounded," he said.
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Despite the presence of 150,000 foreign troops, violence from Afghanistan's war against the Taliban is at its most intense since the conflict began in 2001 when U.S.-backed Afghan troops ousted the Islamists from power.
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Note the failure of the attack. The Taliban went to a lot of effort to mount a futile attack. Their use of police and women's clothing did not help them this time. Cross dressing and using Afghan police uniforms was a way to get closer to the base, but in the end it did them no good.
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