At this point, there are no reports of casualties inside the U.S. embassy or among NATO staff at headquarters, but there are ongoing reports of gunfire and rocket-propelled grenade attacks, in addition to several unconfirmed reports of suicide bombers on the street. It is believed that Taliban insurgents took up positions in a high-rise building that is under construction near the U.S. embassy and that they began firing down upon the building from those positions. Afghan security forces and U.S. military support aircraft then began returning fire and the battle raged throughout the afternoon.The attacks were launched only two days after the U.S. recognized the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks and illustrate the continued instability in Afghanistan, even in the heart of downtown Kabul. As U.S. security forces move closer to a final withdrawal date of the end of 2014, it's clear that there is still a tremendous amount of work to be done to ensure security and stability for the Afghan citizens who are left to function in the wake of a long U.S. occupation.
With Afghanistan and Pakistan becoming increasingly volatile in recent months, it's unclear just how stable the region can be made through the constant presence of a relatively small combat force from the U.S. and its allies. The social, political and religious tensions in the region are much stronger and much more of a problem than the U.S. occupation forces. And even with a well-armed and presumably well-trained Afghan security force in place, it's doubtful that such a unit will have incentives to remain unified and loyal to the task of maintaining order. With rogue government officials and increasingly hands-off U.S. oversight, the negative consequences seem all but assured.
