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Blog Entry 8 of 9 flatironsinafghanistan
This is a journal about the humanitarian trips to Afghanistan that Flatirons Community Church in Lafayette is sponsoring.

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~flatirons

Day 6: 8th of Saur

Contributed by: Flatirons Church Afghan Trip   on 4/27/2008

We watched live on television here the 8th of Saur celebrations at Kabul stadium on the other side of the city. Then we heard some bangs.

The holiday commemorates the Afghan's victory over the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. We saw all the flags, the stands with dignitaries and Afghan president Hamid Karzai walk towards the microphone, flanked by well-honored Afghan military personnel.

We thought the bangs were part of the ceremony. We saw some of the dignitaries get up and start looking back and forward to the left, like someone had fallen over. Someone thought a person had slipped, but as we watched more, one of our SOZO International hosts realized something was wrong, and quickly started calling contacts that were at the event. We knew sooner than most that the president was fine, but that others had been shot.

We've heard that members of the Taliban had infiltrated the Afghan military, but as of right now - 1 p.m. local time, we're not sure what exactly happened. We did watch an announcement on Al Jazeera from Pakistan that the Taliban had indeed taken responsibility for the attack.

We quickly took our cue from our SOZO International hosts, who said that this was an isolated event, and that we were not and would not be in danger - that the perpetrators were targeting the Afghan officials.

I sent an e-mail to my contacts with the Rocky Mountain News to let them know what had happened. John Boogert with the News got a hold of me, and to the wire story they had received from the Associated Press, they added the information that we were safe. Here's the link: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/apr/27/defense-min-afghan-president-safe-after-fleeing-gu/

Ron B. and Jody contacted SOZO and Flatirons staff to let them know that everything is all right. This was all happening at around 1 a.m. Mountain Time, so most of our friends and family wouldn't know about it for about eight hours. At this point, I'm mostly concerned about friends and loved ones tearing their hair out over us being here. But we are all right.

Once we realized that this was an isolated attack, the group united to talk about what had gone on, and mostly there was a sense of sorrow and disappointment for Kabul and Afghanistan. These people had planned for the celebration -- which is similar to our 4th of July -- for months for an expensive amount, especially considering the state of the country. We have seen and met these people. They have always greeted us, either with an acknowledging "Salaam" to a pat on the back and a jovial "hello." And they have gone through suffering through 30 years of war that is unknown to most of us here, and especially for the people in the United States. Afghans just want peace, and foreign interests simply won't allow it.

Needless to say, today's events have thrown a massive wrench in our plans. Originally, U.S. military personnel from Eggers Base in Kabul were going to visit. That was canceled. In honor of the day's festivities, we were going to eat kabobs and have musicians play. We still have kabobs, but the musicians have come indoors.

But we did have some guests. Bill, a member of the 82nd Airborne Division out of Eggers, and an official with the Afghan government came over to visit and eat with us. Their demeanor was a little melancholy at first, but generally calm. If anyone would know whether to worry, it would be them.


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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Flatirons Church Afghan Trip has posted 9 blog entries and 0 comments since joining on 4/23/2008. Flatirons Church Afghan Trip 's average blog rating is 5.
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