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U.S. Embassy In Afghanistan Closes After Deadly Attacks On Military Base And Consulate

By Darien Cavanaugh
Published on: 18:04 PST, Nov 14, 2016

The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan has temporarily closed after deadly insurgent attacks on a German Consulate and Bagram Airbase, the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan, Military.com reports.

“The unusual decision comes after four Americans — two soldiers and two contractors — were killed in a suicide attack Saturday at Bagram Airfield near the capital, Kabul,” the Military.com article reads, referring to the airbase by its alternate name. “Two days earlier, insurgents attacked the German Consulate in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, killing six people and wounding more than 100.”

The attack on Bagram Airbase was carried out by a man wearing a suicide vest and took place at approximately 5:30 a.m., “as people were gathering for a post-Veterans Day fun run,” according to a report from NBC News.

An additional 16 U.S. service members and one Polish soldier were injured in the blast.

“Force protection is always a top priority for us in Afghanistan, and we will investigate this tragedy to determine any steps we can take to improve it,” U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in a statement quoted by NBC. “For those who carried out this attack, my message is simple. We will not be deterred in our mission to protect our homeland and help Afghanistan secure its own future.”

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul often advises Americans to avoid traveling to Afghanistan because of the Taliban-led insurgency that remains a threat 16 years into the conflict there, Military.com noted, adding that the insurgency became “more virulent” after a majority of international troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 2014.

“The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast, according to The Associated Press, which quoted a spokesman who said they have been planning the coordinated carnage for four months,” NBC reported.

In a separate attack only days earlier, a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into the wall of the German Consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif Thursday just after 11 p.m., “destroying the gate and wall,” according to an account published by the Washington Post.

The blast also “destroyed” the Mazar Hotel, where the consulate is based.

After the blast, a gun battled erupted and lasted for nearly five hours.

Germany’s Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, confirmed that six people had been killed in the attack, adding that, “all German and Afghan employees of the consulate remained unharmed,” according to the Washington Post.

The Taliban rose to prominence in Afghanistan in the early 1990s amidst years of civil war between the government of President Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai and various mujahideen factions after the withdrawal of Soviet occupying forces in 1989, according to the BBC.

The group was founded my Mullah Omar, an ex-mujahideen fighter who lost his left eye battling the Soviets in Afghanistan. The Taliban took control of Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, in 1996 with Omar as their leader. They imposed a strict brand of Sharia law throughout the parts of Afghanistan they controlled, forbidding women from working or attending school and requiring them to wear burkas in public. Public punishments, including executions, became commonplace.

Soon after the Taliban came to power, international terrorist leader Osama bin Laden set up a base for his Al-Qaeda terrorist organization in Afghanistan. After Al-Qaeda hijacked commercial airlines and used them to attack the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001, the U.S. led an international coalition to invade Afghanistan, neutralize Al-Qaeda, and overthrow the Taliban.

Prior to the September 11th attacks, Al-Qaeda bombed the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, and the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on August 7, 1988, in addition to numerous other terrorist attacks carried out in several countries.

After overwhelming initial successes, the U.S. and its allies have faced a lingering, and surprisingly resilient, insurgency from the Taliban and affiliated groups.

As of now, there is no word on when the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan will reopen.

[Featured Image by USAID Afghanistan | Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and Resized | CC BY-SA 2.0]

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