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Afghanistan marked 10 years since the start of the US-led war against the Taliban on Friday, with security tight after a string of bold insurgent attacks that have diminished hopes for an enduring peace.
The anniversary will be marked in quiet fashion, with little to commemorate the long years of conflict that have cost thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars.
On the frontlines, it is likely to be business as usual for the 1,40,000 international troops in Afghanistan, including 1,00,000 from the United States, as they continue to battle the Taliban-led insurgency.
For many Afghans, the anniversary will be a time for reflection on what the war has meant for their country and the implications of the withdrawal of all foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.
“I spent a year in the city of Kabul during the Taliban regime and they made life difficult as they banned everything. We were forced to flee the country and live in Pakistan,” said Abdul Saboor, a 30-year-old cook in Kabul.
“I was very pleased when finally the dark era of the Taliban ended in our country.”
But the anniversary will also heighten discontent over the long conflict that has left Afghanistan with a corrupt Government, a widely criticised Western troop presence and only dim prospects for peace.
Security is being stepped up in the capital after a string of major attacks including the assassination of peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani, which has thrown Government strategy for talking peace with the Taliban into turmoil.
“There will be more security, more checks. Police will be on high alert,” a senior Afghan Government official told AFP.
Around 200 Afghans called for the withdrawal of foreign troops and shouted anti-American slogans at a protest in Kabul on the eve of the anniversary.
They shouted “Death to America and its Afghan puppets” and torched an American flag at the end of their march through the city centre, an AFP reporter at the scene said.
The war was launched to oust the Taliban for harbouring Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden who plotted the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US, and destroy Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan.
On October 7, 2001, just under a month after the 9/11 strikes, American planes dropped dozens of cruise missiles and laser-guided bombs on strategic targets in Kabul and other Afghan cities.
That was followed by a ground campaign which defeated the Taliban within weeks.
The anniversary will be marked in quiet fashion, with little to commemorate the long years of conflict that have cost thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars.
On the frontlines, it is likely to be business as usual for the 1,40,000 international troops in Afghanistan, including 1,00,000 from the United States, as they continue to battle the Taliban-led insurgency.
For many Afghans, the anniversary will be a time for reflection on what the war has meant for their country and the implications of the withdrawal of all foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.
“I spent a year in the city of Kabul during the Taliban regime and they made life difficult as they banned everything. We were forced to flee the country and live in Pakistan,” said Abdul Saboor, a 30-year-old cook in Kabul.
“I was very pleased when finally the dark era of the Taliban ended in our country.”
But the anniversary will also heighten discontent over the long conflict that has left Afghanistan with a corrupt Government, a widely criticised Western troop presence and only dim prospects for peace.
Security is being stepped up in the capital after a string of major attacks including the assassination of peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani, which has thrown Government strategy for talking peace with the Taliban into turmoil.
“There will be more security, more checks. Police will be on high alert,” a senior Afghan Government official told AFP.
Around 200 Afghans called for the withdrawal of foreign troops and shouted anti-American slogans at a protest in Kabul on the eve of the anniversary.
They shouted “Death to America and its Afghan puppets” and torched an American flag at the end of their march through the city centre, an AFP reporter at the scene said.
The war was launched to oust the Taliban for harbouring Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden who plotted the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US, and destroy Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan.
On October 7, 2001, just under a month after the 9/11 strikes, American planes dropped dozens of cruise missiles and laser-guided bombs on strategic targets in Kabul and other Afghan cities.
That was followed by a ground campaign which defeated the Taliban within weeks.
