Around the Web: What's behind the attack in Kabul
At least five people were killed during a militant attack in downtown Kabul Monday morning. (Watch bomb explode behind correspondent in Iranian Press TV video)
Ben Arnoldy of the Christrian Science Monitor has some early analysis of the possible motives behind the attack.
“The insurgency has felt pressure from several angles in recent weeks. The United States doubled down with more troops, and is signaling a major new offensive in the south,” Arnoldy writes.
“The Afghan government, meanwhile, has begun talking up lavish new incentives of jobs and training for defectors. As for the Afghan people, which provide the oxygen for any insurgency, a poll last week found public support rebounding for Mr. Karzai.”
Photos of attack in Kabul
Explosions and gunfire shook central Kabul about 9:20 a.m. Monday in an attack that killed five and injured dozens of others. These photos show some of the destruction in the center of Kabul taken by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. The UNAMA has uploaded more photos to their Flickr site here. FULL POST
Holbrooke: 'Most challenging situation'
As he looks back on 2009, U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke talks to CNN's Atia Abawi. He says it was a "complicated and challenging year." Despite some progress, he says, the whole year was overshadowed by the Afghan presidential elections. Looking to 2010, he calls it "a dramatic year."
"I understand the challenges here," he says. "I don't want to say we've turned a corner or there's light at the end of the tunnel - I've been in too many wars to give that optimistic overspin but I will say this: the people of Afghanistan do not want the Taliban to come back."
Watch more of the interview on Holbooke on the importance of agriculture, how Afghanistan compares to other countries' he's traveled to and the international commitment to Afghanistan.
Militant attack kills 5 in heart of Kabul
Kabul, Afghanistan - An attack in which the Taliban claimed to have infiltrated key government sites in central Kabul killed five people on Monday morning, hospital officials said. Thirty-eight other people were injured, said Dr. Kabir Amiri, head of Kabul hospitals. Afghan security forces were among the casualties, he added, without clarifying.
At least two explosions and gunfire shook central Kabul about 9:20 a.m. Monday, with the Taliban saying it was conducting a militant operation. FULL POST
