Afghans mark anniversary of victory over Soviets

[April 28, 2010]  KABUL (AP) -- Afghan leaders marked the 18th anniversary of a Soviet-installed regime's collapse on Wednesday with a military parade and a call to militants to join the current government vying for power against the Taliban insurgency.

Afghan security forces marched in formation before a reviewing stand crowded with top government officials. Noticeably absent were President Hamid Karzai, who was attending a summit in Bhutan, and top mujahedeen commanders who led the country to victory in the late 1980s. It was unclear why they did not attend. Militants tried to assassinate Karzai at celebrations in 2008.

"We have come here to celebrate the victims of the jihad and also to remember those bloody years and how the nation stood and gained this victory, without strong weapons of the developed world, against a strong superpower," Vice President Mohammad Qasim Fahim said in the keynote address inside the heavily secured sport stadium.

Fahim spoke about the country's efforts to bolster the Afghan police and army forces and fight government corruption, but he talked mostly about national unity. "The only way to come out from the current situation is to believe and create a unity that cannot be infiltrated and a political situation where everybody speaks with the same voice," Fahim said.

He concluded by expressing hope that the upcoming peace conference, or jirga, late next month will successfully reach a national consensus for reconciling with the Taliban.

Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister who ran against Karzai in the last presidential election, said he was heartened to see the Afghan security forces parading in fresh uniforms. More than a dozen Afghan helicopters and planes flew low over the stadium during the ceremony. But he said he thought it was disrespectful to those who died for the mujahedeen leaders and Karzai to be no-shows.

"Karzai is president of the country and he's absent?" Abdullah said.

As the vice president spoke about peace in Kabul, violence continued across the nation.

In Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan, a tribal elder was killed Wednesday in Arghandab district, according to district chief Haji Jabbar. In eastern Afghanistan, a roadside bomb hit a car, killing six civilians, including two children, said Mubariz Zadran, a spokesman for the provincial governor of Khost province. Also in Khost, insurgents attacked a police patrol in Sabari district. The Ministry of Interior said a policeman and four militants died in the fighting.

The attacks were the latest sign that security is deteriorating in Kandahar just weeks ahead of a major U.S.-led offensive to clear the city of Taliban fighters.

The capital of Kabul was on alert for possible Taliban attacks during the national day of celebration.

In April 2008, militants fired rockets and automatic rifles at Karzai and other dignitaries during a military parade to mark the holiday. Three people were killed and eight others were wounded.

The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, overthrew a pro-Moscow Afghan leader and installed another in an effort to stop infighting within the Soviet-backed government.

After nearly 10 years of fighting against U.S.-backed guerrillas, the Soviets withdrew in 1989, leaving behind a government that collapsed in April 1992 when the anti-Soviet rebels seized Kabul.

In Kandahar, militants on Tuesday night targeted a compound providing logistical support to NATO forces. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

Zulmai Ayubi, a spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor, said at least four people were killed and 30 wounded.

Details remained sketchy, but witnesses said at least two men armed with guns and grenades carried out the attack.

Ajmal, an Afghan who works at the NATO compound, said Wednesday that a truck exploded near the gate and then two men armed with guns and grenades charged in. He said they blew themselves up soon after.

Another employee, Hamayun, saw three gunmen.

The violence has rattled a city already anxious about the looming military offensive.

President Barack Obama has ordered 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan, in part to back up the Kandahar offensive, but the Taliban have launched increasingly deadly attacks ahead of the offensive.

[Associated Press; By DEB RIECHMANN and AMIR SHAH]

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