Afghans Mark Independence; 9 Cops Killed

[NNN0LHI]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=516&ncid=716&e=5&u=/ap/20030819/ap_on_re_as/afghan_independence_security

KABUL, Afghanistan - War-ravaged Afghanistan celebrated its Independence Day on Tuesday, just after guerrillas with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns killed at least nine policemen in an ambush that capped one of the country's bloodiest weeks of violence in a year.

There were also new assaults on aid workers. Two Afghans were wounded when gunmen fired on their vehicle in the north, and five others beaten with rifle butts when their compound was ransacked west of the capital, Kabul, humanitarian officials said.

Elsewhere, attackers fired three rockets at a U.S. base in eastern Kunar province and detonated a bomb near coalition forces patrolling near the Pakistan border, the U.S. military said. snip

Afghanistan has been hit in the past week by an onslaught from insurgents, believed to be a mix of Taliban guerrillas, al-Qaida fighters and supporters of renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

The attacks follow reports that the ousted Taliban's fugitive leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, has improved coordination among his commanders, dividing Afghanistan into military areas of control.

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[Not a robought]

1. Afghanistan, Jerusalem and Iraq

* gets a daily dose of trifecta.

[LeftHander]

2. Easier if * was a dictator

don't forget