Taliban Heat Up Battle in Kabul -- WSJ

KABUL—The Afghan capital has become the focus of a violent campaign by Taliban insurgents seeking to exploit the new government’s infighting and drive out the country’s foreign backers.

The past two weeks have seen a string of attacks on diplomatic and international targets in Kabul, including a deadly assault Saturday on a guest house belonging to a nongovernmental organization, Partnership in Academics and Development.

This past Thursday a suicide attack hit Wazir Akbar Khan, the heart of the diplomatic quarter, and a car bombing struck a British diplomatic convoy.

All told, the city has seen about a dozen bombings or attacks in about two weeks—a frequency much greater than usual.

“Our objective is to force the foreigners to flee Kabul,” said Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid. “Before, the foreigners were visible in the provinces.…Now that they have limited more of their activities to Kabul, we have also gone to Kabul to target them there.”

The U.S. had around 100,000 troops on the ground in Afghanistan at the height of a surge in 2011, but the White House now plans to keep just under 10,000 to oversee the training of the Afghan military and to conduct counterterrorism missions once the coalition’s mandate expires on Dec. 31.

The Afghan parliament last week ratified a bilateral security agreement between Kabul and Washington that will allow for the continued international military presence.

The surge in violence prompted the resignation on Sunday of Kabul’s chief of police, Gen. Zahir Zahir, shortly after a news conference where he raised the death toll from Saturday’s attack. In addition to an Afghan employee, the head of the NGO and his two children—all South African citizens—were also killed, Gen. Zahir said.

While the Afghan capital has been rocked by occasional high-profile attacks against government officials and international installations in recent years, the war in Afghanistan has largely been waged in the countryside, particularly in the rural south and east.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani heads to Brussels and London this week to court world support for his country. Afghan and international officials say he will unveil at an international conference in London a program to reduce corruption, increase government revenue and raise official accountability.

At home, Afghans say paralysis at the top echelons of government has allowed the Taliban to press an offensive—both in Kabul and in the countryside.

Nazifullah Salarzai, Mr. Ghani’s spokesman, said the president and Mr. Abdullah have agreed on the principles for forming a cabinet. He said the nominees would be presented in groups for parliamentary approval soon.

“All the ministers will be new faces,” Mr. Salarzai said. “There will be four women in the new cabinet. And for those technical ministries, the ministers will be professional and their appointment will be based on meritocracy.”   Read More at Wall Street Journal