Fear stalks the streets of Kabul

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Fear stalks the streets of Kabul
Violence has been escalating in Afghanistan's capital Kabul over recent months.
After a suicide bomber killed at least 12 people outside the interior ministry, residents of the city describe how the bloodshed has injected fear into daily life.

MUSTHAQ HABIBI, 22, CONSTRUCTION TRADER

Mushtaq Habibi rushed to the scene of Saturday's explosion
It was about 8am when I heard the bomb. I was some distance away and drove to the scene of the explosion. It happened on a really busy street. By then the police had covered the area and wouldn't let us go close, but I did see that people were in a bad condition. Blood was spattered on the streets. I saw the wreckage of a car. I've never experienced such a horrible incident. There is a school very nearby. I heard that children were injured. When I got there, police were sweeping the blood from the street. When I saw that happening, I thought: "Is this our future now?" One witness told me that the suicide bomber wanted to enter inside the building but the police didn't let him. When the police got suspicious, he abruptly detonated the bomb. Kabul doesn't feel safe anymore. Terrorist activities have been increased. It's not just me, lots of people feel more at risk.

WAHEEDULLAH POPALZAI, GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE, 27
I think today is the worst day of my life. I work for one of the government ministries and friends and colleagues from the bombed interior ministry came to our offices after the explosion. They told us that many people have been killed and many more injured. We are very shocked. These were just people going about their daily duties. People on the streets feel quite insecure. There has been a big rise in this kind of attack. The citizens of Kabul are very worried. My family lived in Pakistan for 20 years to escape the chaos in Afghanistan and we returned in 2002. We thought that was a good decision. But now, things have changed.

I know people are considering leaving again.

MUHAMMAD KHAN, 30, NGO EMPLOYEE

Muhammad Khans says the optimism of a few years ago has faded
I think people are really terrified. There is tight security all around and still the bombings continue. We are afraid to go to the office in the car. No-one knows when there will be a sudden bomb with many people killed. The people of Afghanistan are suffering. They suffered when the Russians attacked, they suffered from internal warfare, they suffered under the Taleban. Under the Taleban time, the people of Kabul were afraid to walk the streets, they were angry. Now, we are suffering again when all the world is here. And we still cannot walk the streets freely. I have lived in Kabul for three years. When we first came, we were very excited to have our own government, prosperity, and construction. There was a lot of excitement and optimism. But that has all faded now.

more:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5394628.stm