- Title: Kabul "Green Zone" tightened after attacks in Afghan capital
- Date: 7th August 2017
- Summary: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (AUGUST 5, 2017) (REUTERS) AFGHAN POLICEMEN SEARCHING VEHICLES AT KABUL ENTRANCE GATE MORE OF POLICE SEARCHING VEHICLES VARIOUS OF POLICEMEN STANDING GUARD AT KABUL ENTRANCE GATE VARIOUS OF POLICE SEARCHING PEOPLE AFGHAN POLICEWOMAN SEARCHING A VEHICLE MORE OF THE POLICEWOMAN SEARCHING THE VEHICLE KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (AUGUST 6, 2017) (REUTERS) ACTING KABUL POLICE CHIEF MOHAMMAD SALEM EHSAAS MONITORING SCREEN WHICH SHOWS CCTV FOOTAGE (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) ACTING KABUL POLICE CHIEF, SALEM EHSAAS, SAYING: "Regarding a security plan and reform in the Kabul police we have taken some practical measures and have given priority to our diplomatic areas. Our aim is to provide a better security for diplomatic areas and to expand this plan to the other parts of Kabul and its districts." SALEM EHSAAS HOLDING RADIO AS HE MONITORS CCTV FOOTAGE (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) ACTING KABUL POLICE CHIEF, SALEM EHSAAS, SAYING: "We plan to install mobile scanners in our checkpoints and will use security dogs for searching in order to have a better security in our diplomatic areas." AFGHAN POLICEMEN STANDING GUARD AT THE ENTRANCE OF KABUL GREEN ZONE POLICEMAN GUARDING VARIOUS OF POLICEMEN GUARDING AT THE ENTRANCE OF GREEN ZONE VARIOUS OF POLICE SEARCHING PEOPLE AND VEHICLES POLICE STANDING GUARD VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) FERAIDOON KHAN, RESIDENT OF KABUL, SAYING: "We are all concerned about security in Afghanistan. People do not care about poverty and they will not die of hunger. The only thing they want is peace so we want our president to bring peace to our country." PEOPLE ON THE STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Pashto) ABDUL RAZIQ, RESIDENT OF KABUL, SAYING: "There are lots of security issues but now the plan that has been taken to ensure security in the city is really hopeful and we want this plan to be implemented all over the city." VARIOUS OF POLICEMEN GUARDING THE ENTRANCE OF KABUL GREEN ZONE
- Embargoed: 21st August 2017 06:00
- Keywords: Afghanistan checkpoints security green zone attacks
- Location: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
- City: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
- Country: Afghanistan
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,International/National Security
- Reuters ID: LVA0016T5Q2IT
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Afghan authorities are tightening security in the central area of Kabul housing foreign embassies and government offices after a string of suicide attacks that have caused hundreds of casualties and hit confidence in the Western-backed government.
Two months after a truck bomb killed at least 150 people on May 31 in the biggest such attack since the U.S.-led campaign to oust the Taliban in 2001, a series of scanners and cameras have appeared at key intersections around the capital.
The new measures, which come as the U.S. administration wrestles with formulating a new strategy for Afghanistan, underline how serious the security situation has become since the NATO-led coalition ended its main combat mission in 2014.
Although Kabul has never had a formal "Green Zone" to match the one in Baghdad, over the years the centre of the Afghan capital has become an increasingly militarized zone of armed checkpoints and blast walls.
The city is now one of the most dangerous places in Afghanistan for civilians, with 209 killed and 777 injured in suicide and complex attacks in the first half of the year, according to United Nations figures. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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