Suspected al Qaeda fighters ambushed Afghan security forces near the Pakistani border Saturday, drawing U.S. forces into the ensuing gun battle, an Afghan commander said.
Isn’t that a little bit out of style for al-Qaeda? I thought that this kind of grunt work was what the Taliban was for.
A senior Afghan intelligence official and six attackers were killed at the scene in eastern Khost province, said Khial Baz, a military commander in Khost. The Afghan officials were traveling in a pickup truck when they came under fire. The province’s deputy intelligence chief was killed and his boss, Qudratullah Madezai, was seriously hurt, Baz said by satellite telephone.
Looks like they got who they were after.
U.S. reinforcements opened fire along with the rest of the passengers, killing the six attackers. The assailants appeared to have been Arabs fighting for al Qaeda, Baz said, citing Arabic-language documents found on the bodies.
| I read Russian. I can even borrow a fur hat from the Little Woman. That doesn't make me Russian. |
The attacks came as debate over Afghanistan’s new constitution turned sour on Saturday. Government allies accused religious hard-liners of trying to pepper the charter with strict Islamic laws. The two sides also disagreed over how much power should be given to future presidents. President Hamid Karzai and U.S. officials hope the 502 delegates to the loya jirga, or grand tribal council, will produce a draft awarding sweeping powers to the country’s chief executive in a tolerant Islamic state. But they face opposition from leaders of the armed factions who fought the Soviet occupation in the 1980s under the banner of Islam and still hold sway in the provinces. A spokeswoman for the council, Safia Saddiqi, said eight of the draft’s 160 articles were hotly contested in a secretive committee drawing up possible amendments. Ashmat Ghani, a member of the reconciliation committee and brother of the country’s finance minister, said there was a solid majority for a presidential system. But he said Abdurrab Rasool Sayyaf, a deeply conservative Islamic leader, was "trying to put the word of Islam into every article."
| Rasool is the Soddie's man on the scene... |
Rights groups have expressed concern that Karzai may cede control of the supreme court to conservatives to win their backing, opening the door to restrictions on the rights of women and religious minorities. There were calls for a ban on alcohol for foreigners as well as Muslims, Ghani said. The draft is also under attack from representatives of the Northern Alliance faction, which helped U.S. forces drive out the Taliban two years ago. Hafiz Mansour, an alliance delegate, has accused Karzai of seeking dictatorial powers. Several Northern Alliance leaders have called for a strong parliament.
These people think Karzai’s a despot? What Afghanistan are they living in?
| A strong parliament is one that's susceptible to being paralyzed by strong factions. See Pakistan, parliament. A strong presidency has its own dangers, too... |
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