Blog 8: Attack at Wrong Door Turns into Fatal Mistake for the Taliban, Teresa Lindsey. 04/04/2014 4:12 p.m.

Summary

The article titled “Attack at Wrong Door Turns into Fatal Mistake for the Taliban" discusses an incident that took place on Friday, March 28, 2014, when the Taliban assailants thought they were attacking a Christian-run daycare center that wasn’t guarded. The bizarre thing about this attack is that the Taliban hit the wrong place; they burst into the compound next door where an American government contractor (Roots of Peace) was heavily armed ready and waiting for them. Roots of Peace had blocked its front gate with an armored Land Cruiser which they used to take cover behind when the shooting began. The guards and the five foreign residents were able to retreat to the house and go upstairs. One of the guards hit an assailant coming up the circular staircase while two of the American residents hid in their bedroom closets. One big tall man hid in his closet and piled clothes on top of him, while the Taliban was shooting up the bedroom and throwing flash grenades, and even opened the closet but didn’t see him. Police were able to rescue two dozen foreigners from the Christian-run daycare center next door while the gun battle was going on. According to Afghan officials all five Taliban gunmen were killed including one who committed suicide. Two Afghan civilians were killed (one of whom was a young girl) and Two Roots of Peace guards were wounded. This attack took place in Karte Se which is a well-to-do area of Kabul and also an area where many foreign aid groups have homes and offices. Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Taliban, who was reached by phone while the attack was still underway, asserted the target had been “a church used to convert Muslims to Christianity.” He claims that the Taliban had intelligence that the alleged church was going to be celebrating their first anniversary in Kabul and they timed their attack to what they thought was that celebration. The attack began with a large explosion (the Taliban and the police confirmed) which was a suicide car bomb that blew open the daycare center gates and could be heard throughout the city. A smaller explosion followed that blew off the gates of the Roots of Peace house, this house was used as residential quarters for its expatriate staff. Because the Taliban received incorrect information, the attackers armed with assault rifles and wearing suicide bomb vests entered the contractors’ house instead of the daycare center.

Analysis

This article highlights violence that continues to happen in the world due to either religion or politics. This incident is among many other attacks that have recently happened like the attack at the Serena Hotel which killed 9 people including a journalist and most of his family. In January there was an attack on a restaurant that killed 13 foreigners, many of whom were relief workers and employees of international organizations. Just earlier this month, a Swedish journalist was assassinated on a street in the diplomatic quarter by insurgents who accused him of spying. These attacks are brutal, senseless, and sad. It almost seems like if you are a journalist, political figure, activist, or innocent bystander you are fair game at being a target. This article bothered me because their intended target was a daycare center. Just think of the innocent children who could have been potential targets. It’s almost a blessing in disguise that the Taliban got wrong information and hit the wrong place and spared those children but in the aftermath a young girl still lost her life so although it’s still sad it could have been much worse had the daycare center been actually hit. I just really wish the Taliban and all the other mean hateful people that want to hurt innocent people just go rot in jail somewhere.

Link    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/29/world/asia/taliban-militants-attack-kabul-house-and-trap-foreigners.html