Posted on 08/19/2019 2:06:03 AM PDT by robowombat
Afghan President Vows To 'Eliminate' Islamic State Havens After Wedding Attack
August 19, 2019 04:22 GMT UPDATED August 19, 2019 07:16 GMT By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has vowed to "eliminate" all safe havens of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group after at least 63 people, including children, were killed in a Kabul bombing at a wedding hall late on August 17 claimed by a local IS affiliate.
Close to 200 others were wounded.
Ghani's statement came as Afghanistan on August 19 celebrates the 100th anniversary of independence from the British.
"We will take revenge for every civilian drop of blood," Ghani declared. "Our struggle will continue against [IS], we will take revenge and will root them out." He urged the international community to join those efforts.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the August 17 bombing in his congratulatory message on the anniversary.
“Sadly Afghanistan’s 100-year history has also been marked by conflict. The terrorist attack against a Kabul wedding hall this weekend is an attack against humanity,” the message said on August 18.
Pompeo said Afghans have much “to be proud of as you celebrate a century of resilience and cultural diversity.”
The attack on the wedding was the deadliest in Kabul this year and came with Washington and Taliban militants reportedly nearing a deal to end a nearly 18-year war.
Pompeo mentioned improvements the country has seen over the last 20 years in “education, health, infrastructure, women’s rights, economic opportunity, and media freedom.”
Pompeo promised to “redouble our commitment” toward a “peaceful future.”
"I strongly condemn the inhumane attack on the wedding hall in Kabul," Ghani said in a tweet. "My top priority for now is to reach out to the families of victims of this barbaric attack. On behalf of the nation I send my heartfelt condolences to the families of those who were martyred."
U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad took to Twitter to denounce the "heinous attack."
“We must accelerate the Afghan Peace Process including intra-Afghan negotiations. Success here will put Afghans in a much stronger position to defeat" the IS group, he wrote in a separate tweet.
The bombing hit a district of the Afghan capital more populated by Shi'ites than many other parts of the city.
IS and its sympathizers and affiliates have repeatedly targeted Shi'a in addition to other victims since they became active in Afghanistan in 2015.
More than 32,000 civilians in Afghanistan have been killed in the past decade, the United Nations said earlier this year. More children were killed last year -- 927 -- than in any other over the past decade by all actors, the UN said, including in operations against insurgent hideouts carried out by international forces.
Are we staying another 18 years now?
Weddings are another strange Afghan custom. People spend a decade of earnings for one day of feasting. Eating Afghan style means sitting on the floor and using naan (bread) pieces to grab your other food.
In Kabul terrorist attacks are like traffic accidents or tornadoes. When you live there you just get used to them. You try to stay safe and pray they don’t get you. I eventually left Kabul after my hotel was attacked and a stray bullet entered my room.
We should bring a resolution condemning this to the UN Security Council and see if China or Russia have the balls to not vote for it.
Cultural diversity, Mike? Really?
“Even by muzzard standards the perps really seem demented.”
This is ISIS foreigners killing Shi’ites. They did worse in Iraq and Syria, and doctrinally are OK with complete genocide of the Shia.
The local Afghan (Pashtun) Taliban are basically OK with killing off the Shi’ite Hazaras, if they could get away with it, but with them it is more of a racial hatred than a doctrinal imperative.
Islam is amenable to wanton slaughter; it could be Suni/Shia, or Muslim/Kfar slaughter, or just your everyday slaughter of Americans, Christians and Jews. Murder and killing is at the very heart of Islam and is the source of its strength. Without it the greatness of Muhammad cannot be actualized. He was a man who forced women and children to watch him decapitate their husbands and fathers, and then proceeded to rape them. ISIS is just faithfully following the example of “gods messenger” and “the most perfect man who ever lived”. In other words, as long as Islam exists it will rain down horror on naive people who think that evil people will turn into pink Teddy Bears if they get enough hugs. There is only one proper response to such a diabolical system: Destruction.
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