Kabul deploys 7,000 officers to guard against Independence Day attacks

THE Afghan police have ordered 7,000 officers onto the streets of Kabul to guard against attacks on senior leaders during Independence Day celebrations today, responding to signs of the Taliban’s growing strength near the capital.

Even the location of the celebration of Afghanistan’s 89th anniversary of independence from Britain was kept secret and will be closed to the public to try to minimise the risk of disruption by insurgents.

In April, gunmen in a hotel room fired on Afghan President Hamid Karzai at a military parade in Kabul.