THOUSANDS of extra police poured on to the streets of Kabul yesterday as residents braced themselves against a Taleban "spectacular" amid reports that insurgents were set to rock the city with suicide blasts.
More than 7,000 officers, many dressed in riot gear, and hundreds of secret service agents manned roadblocks and checkpoints across the capital as a sense of siege swept the city.
Elite "civil order" police were also ordered into action, to search
cars and compounds for guns and explosives, while dozens of cadets were hauled out of college to boost numbers on the ground.
It was the biggest operation in Kabul since 2001, when the Taleban regime was swept from power.
It came amid claims the Taleban insurgents had plans to disrupt celebrations today, as Afghanistan marks 89 years free from British rule.
Foreigners were warned to stay indoors after intelligence sources reported "a very credible threat of a complex (or] spectacular attack in the city".
The last time Afghanistan celebrated a national holiday, insurgents shot at the president, Hamid Karzai, with an anti-aircraft gun, killing a politician, a child and a tribal elder as thousands of troops fled a military parade in disarray.
Rumours of that attack were so widespread that many diplomats opted not to go, and the failure of Afghanistan's security agencies to prevent it was a major embarrassment for Mr Karzai's embattled government.
Yesterday's operation was seen as a key test of the police, the army and the secret service, who are due to take over responsibility from Nato forces in Kabul in less than ten days' time. The Taleban has repeatedly threatened to increase attacks on the capital.
Security chiefs launched the crackdown yesterday as violence spiralled across the country. Nato officials said that the last seven days had seen the worst violence since 2001.
A British soldier killed in a suicide attack in Kabul on Monday was among nine foreign troops killed last week.
Two other Britons were seriously injured in the blast. They were among 59 Nato and coalition troops hurt in fighting across the country.
Meanwhile, at least 19 civilians were killed and 46 were injured.
The full article contains 367 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
