On March 19th Taliban fighters fought with Afghan intelligence officers in front of the presidential palace. Taliban fighters detonated a car bomb, but were unable to penetrate the security perimeter around the palace. Taliban fighters also attacked two other government buildings in Kabul, according to an Interior Ministry spokesman. Taliban succeeded in killing four people and injuring many others during these attacks.
NDS is Afghanistan's National Directorate of Intelligence. As the name suggests, it is responsible for gathering intelligence with a strong focus on counter-terrorism. It is an extremely secretive organization, no doubt to avoid Taliban infiltration.
One of the men behind the NDS was Abdullah Abdullah , who's strongly against Taliban presence in Afghanistan. He called upon US forces to continue their support for Afghan security forces and allow them to maintain control over areas being contested by the Taliban.
Afghan troops have been stationed at strategic locations around Kabul since President Hamid Karzai announced national elections scheduled for April 5th will go forward . As a result of this announcement, Kabul has seen many people applying for visas or passports so they are able to leave Afghanistan before it becomes too dangerous after the elections are concluded .
A representative of Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission , Noor Mohammad Noor, has said that more than half the nearly seven million Afghans who have registered to vote have already received their biometric voter-registration cards, which is an unprecedented number.
Presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi has stated that President Karzai will file a court case against three election commissioners who are suspected of receiving bribes in exchange for votes. The Presidential Palace released video footage of one commissioner receiving money from Abdullah Abdullah's campaign manager . Investigations are still ongoing.
Afghan Taliban forces are fighting with National Directorate of Intelligence Forces at the Presidential Palace in Kabul. Taliban has tried to take over the palace before, but this is their first major assault on it. The Taliban fighters were eventually pushed back by Afghan security forces, but they managed to get inside of the building and set fire to some of its rooms.
In other news, the Independent Election Commission says that more than half of voters have received their biometric voter registration cards. Presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi has said that President Karzai will file a court case against three election commissioners who are suspected of receiving bribes in exchange for votes.
As Taliban forces fight with Afghan intelligence agents in front of the presidential palace, it becomes increasingly clear that they are unable to maintain security in any part of Afghanistan. This is especially problematic if elections go ahead next month, because it means the Taliban would be able to directly influence or control who ends up at the helm of Afghanistan's government.
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