Afghanistan marks Independence Day amid high security

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Afghan security forces were on high alert Saturday as the war-torn country, reeling from a number of high-profile deadly attacks, marked the Independence Day with muted celebrations.

There was an increased police presence in the capital Kabul where pop star Aryana Sayeed had vowed to give a concert and President Ashraf Ghani was due to host a private ceremony for Afghan dignitaries.

“All of our police units are on the highest state of alert and they are placed everywhere across the city,” Kabul police spokesperson Abdul Basir Mujahid told AFP.

"We have increased the number of police checkpoints in and around the diplomatic quarters (too),” he added, amid fears that the Taliban would mark the anniversary with a large-scale attack.

August 19 commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Rawalpindi in 1919, which granted Afghanistan full independence from Britain, although the country was never part of the British empire, after three bloody wars.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani attends Afghan Independence Day celebrations in Kabul, Afghanistan August 19, 2017. /Reuters Photo

While Afghanistan’s red, black and green national flags adorned many Kabul streets, the day will largely go unobserved by ordinary Afghans, who are frustrated by the deteriorating security situation and the lack of progress by the US-led international coalition forces. As in recent years, there are no public ceremonies planned in the capital.

President Ghani laid a wreath at the Independence Minaret during an official celebration inside the Defense Ministry compound in the morning and paid tribute to security forces who have sacrificed their lives for stabilizing peace and security as violence has been spreading across the country amid attacks by Taliban insurgents and ISIL militants.

While some Afghans changed their Facebook profile pictures to the tricolor national flag or to Amanullah Khan, the king who secured Afghanistan’s independence, others lamented that the fight against the Taliban, now in its 16th year, meant there was little to celebrate.

“What Independence Day are we talking about when we are still at war with terrorism and don’t seem to be winning against it?” one user wrote on the social media site.

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Source(s): AFP ,Xinhua News Agency