THREE people, including a ten-year-old boy, died yesterday as Taleban militants attempted to assassinate Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, during a high-profile military parade in Kabul.
Gunmen opened fire from a hotel room overlooking the grandstand where the president, his cabinet and international dignitaries were taking a 21-gun salute to commemorate the Afghan Mujahideen's victory over the former Soviet-backed regime 16 years ag
o. The Taleban has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Last night, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, Britain's ambassador to Afghanistan, who attended the event, told of the terrifying moment the attack began.
Sir Sherard and Colonel Simon Newton, the UK defence attache, were metres from Mr Karzai when insurgents attacked them with rockets, automatic weapons and an anti-aircraft gun.
Mr Karzai was whisked away in a black 4x4 vehicle, while the shooting continued for around ten minutes.
Bodyguards bundled Sir Sherard into an armoured car as an explosion struck the parade ground just 50m from where he stood.
The ambassador, 53, said: "We were about 15 rounds into the 21-gun salute when I noticed a puff of smoke, coming from a mud building at the southern end of the parade ground. It must have been a rocket-propelled grenade. Then the president's protective detail started firing southwards."
A second British eyewitness said: "There were a couple of cracks of small-arms fire then a few more and the president's bodyguard started to move. An explosion landed 50m from the stands."
Major General Abdul Wahab Wardak, commander of the Afghan air force, said: "We heard shooting and the blast of a bomb or a rocket. Then the president's bodyguard opened fire to open a way for him to escape."
Hundreds of Afghan troops were lined up on a large open square in front of the capital's main mosque as part of the ceremonial review. However, Sir Sherard said none of the troops had any ammunition so they lay down or ran away when the Taleban opened fire.
Other soldiers protecting the president began shooting back at the third-floor window a few hundred metres from the VIP stand where Sir Sherard was standing alongside William Wood, the US ambassador to the country.
The attack came shortly after Mr Karzai had inspected his troops. He was due to make a speech before saluting a fly-past of Afghanistan's new attack helicopters, transport planes and L-39 jets. Officials had hoped security was at an all-time high ahead of the parade, following an announcement last month that Afghan forces were ready to take over from the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul.
Yesterday, platoon sergeant Mohammed Amin, who was among the first into the hotel room used by the militants, blamed Afghan police for the security breach.
He said: "(On Saturday night] there were police on top of the buildings, but (yesterday] morning they left. They were supposed to make inquiries about all the guests, who they are, where they are from, what they are doing."
Sir Sherard admitted he had reservations about attending the event due to security fears.
Afghan soldiers said there were three gunmen in the hotel room, armed with two AK47 assault rifles and a PK light anti-aircraft gun, as well as boxes of ammunition and grenades.
Sgt Amin said Mr Karzai was within range of the anti-aircraft gun during the attack and revealed the gunmen were locked into the room from the outside, indicating they were not expecting to make it out alive.
He added: "A grenade had gone off in the room when we got there. Two of the men were dead, one was dying."
He said troops arrested more than 30 people at the hotel.
LIVING LIFE ON THE EDGE AS ASSASSINS STALK EVERY MOVEHAMID Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, has escaped at least four attempts on his life since he took power after the fall of the Taleban regime six years ago:
10 June, 2007: Taleban militants fired six rockets, which landed near a school yard where Mr Karzai was meeting with local leaders and residents in Andar district, Ghazni province. No-one was hurt and Mr Karzai continued his speech.
17 September 2004: Militants fired rockets at an American helicopter taking Mr Karzai to the eastern city of Gardez, in Paktia province, missing the chopper as it approached a landing zone. No-one was hurt.
9 September 2002: A former Taleban fighter dressed in an Afghan army uniform fired ar Mr Karzai as he travels in a motorcade in the city of Kandahar. Mr Karzai was unharmed but the Kandahar governor, Gul Agha Sherzai was wounded. The attacker was killed by the president's US bodyguards. Two other people who tried to disarm the attacker were also killed.
The full article contains 802 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
