Taliban suicide attackers struck Afghanistan’s national peace conference as it opened today but no delegates were hurt and the gathering went ahead as planned.
The raid started minutes after President Hamid Karzai began his opening address to 1,600 dignitaries, appealing for rank-and-file Taliban members to stop fighting for the sake of the country.
At least three guerrillas fired rockets from a construction site in western Kabul, the government said, several of which struck near the giant tent erected on the Kabul University campus for the three-day meeting of about 1,600 politicians, tribal elders and members of civil groups. Police killed two of the guerrillas, and arrested a third, Education Minister Farooq Wardak told reporters.
The Taliban, which had earlier threatened to kill anyone who took part, claimed responsibility for the attack saying they intended to sabotage the three-day conference.
The conference, known as a peace jirga, is aimed at bolstering Mr Karzai politically by endorsing his strategy of offering incentives to individual Taliban fighters and reaching out to the insurgent leadership, despite scepticism in the West about whether the time is right.
But the attack underscored the weak grip of Mr Karzai’s government in the face of the Taliban insurgency, which has grown in strength despite record numbers of Western forces in the country.
Mr Karzai said years of violence and infighting had caused widespread suffering that had driven many ordinary Afghans to join the Taliban and another major insurgent group, Hizb-i-Islami, out of fear. He appealed to them to renounce extremism.
“There are thousands of Taliban and Hizb-i-Islami, they are not the enemies of this soil,” he said.
He said continuing fighting would only prevent the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan. "Make peace with me and there will be no need for foreigners here. As long as you are not talking to us, not making peace with us, we will not let the foreigners leave,” he said.
About 10 minutes into his speech, Mr Karzai was briefly interrupted by an explosion outside, which police said was a rocket. He heard the thud, but dismissed it, telling delegates, “Don’t worry. We’ve heard this kind of thin before.”
Bursts of gunfire could be heard to the south of the venue, and security forces rushed to the area.
Farooq Wardak, a government minister responsible for organising the jirga, said three militants dressed in burkhas carrying explosives and armed with guns and at least one grenade launcher, were involved in the attack. Two died in fighting outside the venue and one was captured.
While militants are strongest in the volatile south of the country, where Nato forces are preparing a major operation in the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, insurgents have repeatedly shown they can strike in the heavily defended capital as well.
AP