What should have been a day of joy was turned into one of horror for worshippers who had gathered to offer Eid Al Adha prayers at a mosque in Maimana, capital of the Faryab province in northern Afghanistan. A suicide attacker killed at least 36 people. Nothing, it seems, is off-limits and there appear to be no red lines in the cruel conflict plaguing Afghanistan since the attacks of 9/11.
The apparent targets of the bomber — senior government officials — were inside the mosque while he detonated his explosives outside, killing security officials and innocent civilians.
While President Hamid Karzai condemned the blast and in his Eid Al Adha message called on the insurgents to “stop the destruction of our mosques, hospitals and schools”, the utter failure of his administration to provide security has been all too apparent for years now. Despite all the so-called security measures, insurgents continue to hit at will, with the attacks becoming more brazen by the day. And all this does not bode well for the post-Nato Afghan landscape.
