Breaking on Twitter: Large explosion in Kabul (update: local police targets, not embassy)

[villager]

No other details yet -- just Tweets and repeats of the explosion, ear witnesses, etc...

Any details? Post 'em here...

On edit:

Per a couple requests, the Twitter Kabul page:

http://twitter.com/#!/search/kabul

Refresh constantly!

On edit edit:

About two miles SW of embassy, it appears. Police station/checkpoint...

[villager]

1. ...or perhaps near the ISAF, other reports/Tweets are saying...

n/t

[MineralMan]

2. Link? Who's reporting this.

Twitter is not a source. Someone posted what you said. Who was it?

[seabeyond]

3. lol mm... per the news thread, and then we have twitter, lol. nt

[villager]

6. Sadly, your LOL won't undo the explosion...

n/t

[seabeyond]

13. i take the explosion seriously. i addressed mm

because he had just come from a thread where lack of info or inaccurate info causes problems. a little effort in grounding

[villager]

15. I gather you don't actually use Twitter either, then?

:shrug:

[seabeyond]

20. no, i dont. i also dont have a problem getting info from twitter and keeping it in perspective

of the unknown.

a heads up. and possibly some good info. and maybe some not so good info. always to decipher

[MineralMan]

18. Is there a news thread? What's the link for that?

It's frustrating to come into a thread and not have a way to jump to some actual information. It's like the threads that say "DID YOU SEE WHAT JUST HAPPENED?"

Twitter? Where on Twitter? I'll go there.

[seabeyond]

22. no. it is just a quick way of something happening. now a wait and see. nt

[villager]

5. I guess you don't understand Twitter much? Numerous contributors, including a Guardian correspondent

...who ear witnessed:

http://twitter.com/#!/Jon_Boone

[MineralMan]

14. I don't use Twitter, but I can go to a link.

Am I supposed to figure this out? Why not post a link to where this stuff is? That's all I asked.

[villager]

19. Ah, sorry for misunderstanding. Here's the Twitter Kabul page:

http://twitter.com/#!/search/kabul


Refresh as often as necessary, as updates are constant...

[MineralMan]

21. Thank you. That's all I wanted.

We're not necessarily watching the same page you are. Links are helpful.

[villager]

24. I guess "Twitter is not a source" didn't read like "please provide a direct link"

..but I Grok ya now!

[MineralMan]

26. No problem. I just meant that Twitter is pretty general,

and I'd have no way of finding what you were describing there. Thanks for the link.

[Broderick]

16. hmmmmm

Jon_Boone Jonathan Boone
Not sure where the bang came from, but one of the loudest I've heard in Kabul.

[justiceischeap]

8. I feel bad for all those Egyptian's that used Twitter to inform the world of the news going on

during their revolution. IMO, Twitter, in some ways, is a much better source than the M$M these days.

[Cleita]

4. So the bad karma begins if this is so. n/t

[Drale]

17. It has nothing to do with fate,

its crazy people doing what crazy people do. They would have staged attacks no matter what happened. If this happened on friday, it would have been chocked up as just other attack, but because Osama was killed now ever attack is going to be blamed on that.

[Cleita]

30. No fate doesn't have anything to do with it but

those who want revenge will try to take it. That's the bad karma. Unfortunately, it will be mostly the innocent who pay.

[sufrommich]

23. Perhaps it's just Zeus practicing his bolt technique. nt

[Cleita]

28. You think it's Zeus would be sending embassies and

other American targets lightening bolts? Now I'm laughing. :rofl:

[cbdo2007]

27. Bad karma?!?!? hahahah ahhahahaha HAHAHAHAH - It's a war!!!!

There is no karma involved or if there was we all should be killed.

[Cleita]

29. There is always karma involved where there is war.

Read history. Where has war ever benefited anyone, but a select few at the top who get the rewards from the suffering of millions.

[cbdo2007]

31. That isn't karma. Karma would be if the leaders who caused all this shit....

choked on their pretzels and died tonight.

This is violence solving violence with more violence, followed by more violence until the end of time.

[Cleita]

32. I think the Dalai Lama would disagree with you.

What you are describing is magical thinking.

[cbdo2007]

45. Well he's not here to argue with me so we'll just have to conclude that I won.

[Cleita]

47. I didn't know this was a contest. So you want to win,

you won. Happy?

[seabeyond]

37. i go with the choking on pretzel karma. yes i do. nt

[Renew Deal]

44. lol

:rofl:

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[villager]

10. That's the one. Thanks.

n/t

[villager]

9. Breaking News says NATO reports explosion, no further details:

http://twitter.com/#!/mpoppel

[Lone_Star_Dem]

11. I hope it's not another child suicide bomber there like two days ago.

:(

[Broderick]

12. Thanks for the heads up

Hoping for the best.

[Adsos Letter]

25. My understanding is that the Taliban's Spring offensive is set to begin

I would imagine this is part of it, but I'm obviously guessing.

[villager]

33. Policeman standing by embassy says nothing happened there:

According to another Kabul-based journalist:

Policeman standing in front of US embassy #kabul says nothing happend over there

http://twitter.com/#!/BetteDam

The mystery deepens..

[MineralMan]

35. Probably in a little while, we'll find out what happened, and

where this explosion was. I'll watch LBN for it. This Twitter stuff has to much noise blocking the signal. Static's never been my thing.

I may find out five minutes later than you folks, but I'll find out in plenty of time to take whatever action I can take, which is none, since I'm nowhere near Kabul.

Have fun sorting out the wheat from the chaff.

[villager]

34. Rocket attack on police station?

http://twitter.com/#!/GriffithsCNN

[MineralMan]

36. Isn't that sort of a daily occurrence there?

Someone's always blowing something up in Kabul, it seems.

[villager]

38. The Guardian guy said it was the loudest he'd heard, but we'll see

...if this is a "regular" explosion, or something else...

[MineralMan]

43. Yes, we will see. So far, we haven't seen, despite the length

of this thread. There's a point in there somewhere, I think. Breathless reporting of stuff, which turns out to be something else, is not news. News is what happens after the rumors and chatter ends. Twitter is interesting, but it's not a news source. It's a chatterbox, with news buried somewhere in it. At some point, the news makes its way out of the chatter and gets reported by news sources.

I'm sorry I wasted my time on this thread. We still don't know what happened.

[villager]

46. Well, it didn't turn out to be "something else" -- there was an explosion in Kabul

the questions are where, and what motives.

And ultimately, how big.

It's midnight there, and this is definitely a real-time, messy event with details still being sorted out.

Can it be an echo chamber? Sure. But so is the corporate-owned "official" news, so sources are where you find 'em, what you make of 'em, and how you filter 'em...

[MineralMan]

48. Sure. There was an explosion. They happen a lot in Kabul.

What blew up? We still don't know, over an hour later. So much for Twitter.

But, what was the orginal OP? Something about the Embassy, if I remember correctly? Kind of embarrassing, really. Wild speculation that had nothing to do with actual events. OMG! THEY'VE BOMBED THE EMBASSY!!!11!!.

That's the effect. Not news. Not even information. What's the point, really? And now, an hour later, it's "Oh, never mind, it was just the police station."

Do you see what I'm saying here? Does it make any sense to you?

[villager]

49. You're missing the point -- Twitter still had this particular news 45 mins before mainstream sources

Sometimes, depending on the news, that doesn't matter.

Sometimes the "collective reporting" won't get it initially right.

But sometimes, getting that news out can be critical.

So much for Twitter? It's been invaluable at least twice with local (L.A.-based) breaking news stories where I needed more details...

But again, no one will force you to use it. Or to keep commenting about it here.

[MineralMan]

51. Ah, but you see, I CAN comment on it, and I have.

There was no news, other than the explosion. Everything else was breathless speculation, as I said. The news was that there was an explosion somewhere in Kabul. That was the only fact presented. The OP opined that it was the Embassy. It was not. But that sure stirred things up, didn't it?

Speculation about a fact is not news. It's bullshit. It's utter nonsense. It's deceptive and manipulative. It's, well, untrue.

An explosion in Kabul. That happens there. We read about that frequently. But an explosion at the Embassy. Now that would be important, pressing news. But, it didn't happen. Some people apparently though it would be really exciting if that happened, so they were all breathless about it. Kinda pathetic, really.

You'd like me not to comment. I will not comply. When rumor is posted as news, if I see it, I'll comment on it.

There was an explosion in Kabul. You still do not know where it was. All you have is some anonymous person saying where they think it was.

Really? That took up over an hour of your time?

[villager]

53. so I guess you decided not to leave this thread alone?

I thought you were the one who announced you would let things ride awhile?

I assume checking in on this thread is taking up a certain amount of your time, too? (I'm checking Twitter/posting while doing the proverbial "other stuff," but if you've mastered the timefold thing, do share!)

If you want to spend time here commenting after announcing otherwise, fine. Welcome aboard.

Point is, there's a rocket attack in Kabul, at a time when everyone's jittery about increased instability there.

First place to report it was via Twitter feed. And now we sort out the details...

[MineralMan]

54. So...what happened? Where was the explosion?

Or did the twitter folks lose interest when it wasn't the Embassy? I guess I'll check a real news site to see where the explosion was. Doesn't seem to be any news in this thread.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

50. The Taliban announced last week the beginning of their "spring offensive"

Afghan Taliban: Spring offensive starts now

KABUL, Afghanistan – The spring fighting season in Afghanistan geared up this weekend with a war of words.

The Taliban announced they will begin their spring offensive Sunday, pledging to attack military bases, convoys and Afghan officials, including members of the peace council working to reconcile with top insurgent leaders. Saturday's declaration came a day after a new Pentagon report claimed the militants were experiencing low morale after suffering heavy losses on the battlefield.

"The war in our country will not come to an end unless and until the foreign invading forces pull out of Afghanistan," the Taliban said in a two-page statement released by the leadership council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which is what the movement calls itself.

Senior officers with the U.S.-led coalition said Friday that the Taliban — aided by the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network — have plans to conduct a brief series of high-profile attacks, including suicide bombings, across the country in a display of power. The officers spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss recent intelligence, firmed up in the past couple days, that lead to the assessment.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110430/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan

In the winter weather inhibits their ability to implement attacks as well. Each spring they welcome the season by starting a new offensive. Kabul is sadly one of their favorite targets. As I said in another post, I cannot imagine what it must be like to be a citizen there.

[MineralMan]

52. Yes, I know. There will probably be many explosions in

Kabul. I hope they aren't all "at the Embassy," though, like this one. Maybe we'll wait to see where they are before we get all excited about them. I hope so.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

39. Maybe not daily, but more than once a week.

Can you imagine what it must be like for the citizens who live there? I don't know how they function on a daily basis.

[MineralMan]

42. I don't either. Living in a war zone is something I hope never to

experience.

[Broderick]

40. update I guess

CNN
CNNLADavid David Daniel
US Marine at embassy in Kabul tells #CNN "It was a rocket attack on the police department" -- embassy not the target #afghanistan


http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23CNN

[krabigirl]

41. We need to get the heck out of the middle east.