Afghan attacks show NATO's failure: Karzai

Kabul, April 16 (IANS/RIA Novosti) The coordinated attacks on Afghan capital Kabul and three provinces Sunday were a failure on the part of NATO and domestic intelligence forces, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Monday.

"The fact that terrorists were able to infiltrate Kabul and other provinces is an intelligence failure for us and especially for NATO, and should be seriously investigated," Karzai said in a statement.

He, however, praised the country's security officers for preventing further escalation of violence and saving the lives of dozens of civilians.

Karzai said they "proved to the people their ability to defend their land on their own".

The Taliban said the attack targeted the German and British embassies as well as the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

According to the presidential press service, four civilians and 11 security officers were killed Sunday and overnight in a series of attacks on Kabul's heavily guarded government district and the eastern Nangarhar, Logar and Paktia provinces. A total of 32 civilians and 46 officers were injured.

Western forces would leave Afghanistan under a plan to hand over full responsibility of the security to Afghan forces by 2014.

The Taliban described the the violence as a "coordinated attack" which demonstrated that its members can strike whenever and wherever they chose.

--IANS/RIA Novosti

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