<p>The Taliban’s twin suicide attacks on the British Council in Kabul lays bare its continuing capacity to strike at installations that are supposedly tightly guarded. The British Council is located in the compound of the British embassy and is thus among the most ‘secure’ places in Afghanistan. Yet the Taliban suicide bombers were able to breach security to strike. The choice of target and timing of the attack are significant. It was carried out on the 92nd anniversary of Afghanistan’s freedom from British rule. By carrying out a deadly strike on a British installation in Kabul to mark the day, they have sought to remind the Afghan people that their ongoing war is one for independence from foreign rule. However, by targeting the British Council, the Taliban have only revealed their warped vision for Afghanistan. The focus of the British Council’s activities in Afghanistan is education of girls and development of women leaders. By targeting this, the Taliban has reiterated its opposition to women’s emancipation. The ‘freedom’ it is promising Afghans has little support outside the Taliban belt in areas bordering Pakistan.<br /><br />The Taliban have scored several important victories in recent weeks. Last week, they shot down a US Special Forces helicopter killing 30 members of the elite Navy Seals and 8 Afghans. It was the largest loss of life for Americans in a single incident in a decade-long war. Before that, president Hamid Karzai’s half-brother Ahmed Wali Karzai, was gunned down by his own head of security. Another key advisor of the president, Jan Mohammad Khan was killed in his home in the heart of Kabul. In end-June the Taliban carried out a major attack on Kabul’s heavily-guarded Intercontinental Hotel.<br /><br />The Taliban attacks are aimed at telling the international community that they remain a force to reckon with and that without them no peace settlement will hold. However, such attacks also lay bare the Taliban’s reluctance to abjure the path of violence. If it wants to be included in a peace settlement it needs to indicate that it is capable of transforming itself into a responsible player. Attacks such as those on the British Council signal that its thinking is still stuck in the Middle Ages. It must convince Afghans and the world that it is capable of a forward-looking, inclusive and peaceful agenda.</p>
<p>The Taliban’s twin suicide attacks on the British Council in Kabul lays bare its continuing capacity to strike at installations that are supposedly tightly guarded. The British Council is located in the compound of the British embassy and is thus among the most ‘secure’ places in Afghanistan. Yet the Taliban suicide bombers were able to breach security to strike. The choice of target and timing of the attack are significant. It was carried out on the 92nd anniversary of Afghanistan’s freedom from British rule. By carrying out a deadly strike on a British installation in Kabul to mark the day, they have sought to remind the Afghan people that their ongoing war is one for independence from foreign rule. However, by targeting the British Council, the Taliban have only revealed their warped vision for Afghanistan. The focus of the British Council’s activities in Afghanistan is education of girls and development of women leaders. By targeting this, the Taliban has reiterated its opposition to women’s emancipation. The ‘freedom’ it is promising Afghans has little support outside the Taliban belt in areas bordering Pakistan.<br /><br />The Taliban have scored several important victories in recent weeks. Last week, they shot down a US Special Forces helicopter killing 30 members of the elite Navy Seals and 8 Afghans. It was the largest loss of life for Americans in a single incident in a decade-long war. Before that, president Hamid Karzai’s half-brother Ahmed Wali Karzai, was gunned down by his own head of security. Another key advisor of the president, Jan Mohammad Khan was killed in his home in the heart of Kabul. In end-June the Taliban carried out a major attack on Kabul’s heavily-guarded Intercontinental Hotel.<br /><br />The Taliban attacks are aimed at telling the international community that they remain a force to reckon with and that without them no peace settlement will hold. However, such attacks also lay bare the Taliban’s reluctance to abjure the path of violence. If it wants to be included in a peace settlement it needs to indicate that it is capable of transforming itself into a responsible player. Attacks such as those on the British Council signal that its thinking is still stuck in the Middle Ages. It must convince Afghans and the world that it is capable of a forward-looking, inclusive and peaceful agenda.</p>
