Growth in prison population following riots means parts of the system are becoming ‘human warehouses’, experts warn The prison population in England and Wales has hit a record high of 86,654 following the courts decision to remand hundreds charged with rioting and looting in custody. The Ministry of Justice said the prison population had risen by 723 over the past week. Officials are making contingency plans to accelerate the opening of new prison buildings and bring mothballed accommodation back into use. There are currently only 1,439 spare useable places left in the jail system, but prison chiefs say they remain confident they have enough to cope with those being imprisoned by the courts in relation to the recent riots. “We are developing contingencies to increase useable capacity should further pressure be placed on the prison estate,” a prison service spokesperson said. It is thought the plans include opening accommodation at the newIsis prison next to Belmarsh in east London earlier than expected, and bringing back into use a wing at Lewes prison, east Sussex, which had been closed for refurbishment, back into use. The prison service said that they currently have no plans to reverse the decision to close two prisons – Latchmere House in London, and Brockhill in Redditch – next month. “We are managing an unprecedented situation and all the staff involved should be commended for their dedication and hard work during this difficult time,” said a prison service spokesperson. “We currently have enough prison places for those being remanded and sentenced to custody as a result of public disorder.” The use of emergency police cells known as Operation Safeguard is the normal safety valve when the prison service is running out of space, but this is not currently a possibility as police forces need to keep holding capacity on standby to deal with further possible disturbances. The pressure is particulary acute in London, where current inmates are being moved out of the capital to other institutions in order to free up space. Geoff Dobson, the deputy director of the Prison Reform Trust, said the rapid increase in prison numbers meant that some parts of the system were “becoming human warehouses, doing little more than banging people up in overcrowded conditions, with regimes that are hard pressed to offer any employment or education. The likelihood is that for some first time offenders that will provide a fast-track to a criminal career”. His concerns were shared by Paul McDowell, the chief executive of Nacro, the crime reduction charity, and former governor of Brixton prison, who also warned that rehabilitation work to tackle reoffending would simply go by the board as jails try to cope with the rapid rise in prisoner numbers. Labour’s prison spokesperson, Helen Goodman, said she was becoming increasingly concerned about the level of remaining capacity. “The violence that was seen on the streets of Britain last week must be punished, but the Tory-led government also have a responsibility to ensure that the sentences handed down are being served safely,” she said. “Since May last year this Tory-led government has scrapped the prison building programme and closed four prisons, which has reduced prison capacity even further. “The prison population has reached a record high and prison and probation officers are being increasingly overstretched. It is vital for public safety and for security in our prisons and the youth secure estate that prison and probation staff get the resources and support they need,” she said. Prisons and probation Police UK riots Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Growth in prison population following riots means parts of the system are becoming ‘human warehouses’, experts warn The prison population in England and Wales has hit a record high of 86,654 following the courts decision to remand hundreds charged with rioting and looting in custody. The Ministry of Justice said the prison population had risen by 723 over the past week. Officials are making contingency plans to accelerate the opening of new prison buildings and bring mothballed accommodation back into use. There are currently only 1,439 spare useable places left in the jail system, but prison chiefs say they remain confident they have enough to cope with those being imprisoned by the courts in relation to the recent riots. “We are developing contingencies to increase useable capacity should further pressure be placed on the prison estate,” a prison service spokesperson said. It is thought the plans include opening accommodation at the newIsis prison next to Belmarsh in east London earlier than expected, and bringing back into use a wing at Lewes prison, east Sussex, which had been closed for refurbishment, back into use. The prison service said that they currently have no plans to reverse the decision to close two prisons – Latchmere House in London, and Brockhill in Redditch – next month. “We are managing an unprecedented situation and all the staff involved should be commended for their dedication and hard work during this difficult time,” said a prison service spokesperson. “We currently have enough prison places for those being remanded and sentenced to custody as a result of public disorder.” The use of emergency police cells known as Operation Safeguard is the normal safety valve when the prison service is running out of space, but this is not currently a possibility as police forces need to keep holding capacity on standby to deal with further possible disturbances. The pressure is particulary acute in London, where current inmates are being moved out of the capital to other institutions in order to free up space. Geoff Dobson, the deputy director of the Prison Reform Trust, said the rapid increase in prison numbers meant that some parts of the system were “becoming human warehouses, doing little more than banging people up in overcrowded conditions, with regimes that are hard pressed to offer any employment or education. The likelihood is that for some first time offenders that will provide a fast-track to a criminal career”. His concerns were shared by Paul McDowell, the chief executive of Nacro, the crime reduction charity, and former governor of Brixton prison, who also warned that rehabilitation work to tackle reoffending would simply go by the board as jails try to cope with the rapid rise in prisoner numbers. Labour’s prison spokesperson, Helen Goodman, said she was becoming increasingly concerned about the level of remaining capacity. “The violence that was seen on the streets of Britain last week must be punished, but the Tory-led government also have a responsibility to ensure that the sentences handed down are being served safely,” she said. “Since May last year this Tory-led government has scrapped the prison building programme and closed four prisons, which has reduced prison capacity even further. “The prison population has reached a record high and prison and probation officers are being increasingly overstretched. It is vital for public safety and for security in our prisons and the youth secure estate that prison and probation staff get the resources and support they need,” she said. Prisons and probation Police UK riots Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
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Palestinian attorney general bans Watan ala Water after public servants and officials complained they were being ridiculed A popular satirical television show has been ordered off the air by the Palestinian attorney general after public servants and officials complained they were being ridiculed. Watan ala Water (Country on a String) is broadcast nightly throughout Ramadan, and the show has attracted a huge following for its mockery of Palestinian leaders , officials, corruption, nepotism and social attitudes. According to reports in the Palestinian media, complaints about the show were made by the head of the Palestinian Medical Association, the chief of police and the head of the anti-corruption authority. Ahmad Mughani, the attorney general, said the programme’s language was offensive and the show did not “serve the public interest” and was “harmful to Palestinian society”. It had crossed “red lines”, he said. Yasser Abed Rabbo, the secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the chairman of Palestine TV, which broadcasts the show, said he would comply with the order. However, he told the Wafa news agency that “we will turn this matter into a public issue” and that the order “set a serious precedent”. The show’s star and scriptwriter told the Guardian last year that he had come under “tremendous pressure” to abandon the programme. “I feel there is a lot of electricity surrounding me. The programme bothers a lot of people,” said Imad Farajin. The show touched on “traditionally taboo issues”, he said. Palestinian territories Censorship Television Harriet Sherwood guardian.co.uk
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Steve Coogan leads battle to reveal whether News of the World ordered hacking of Elle MacPherson and five other public figures Glenn Muclaire, the private investigator at the centre of the News of the World phone hacking, has been ordered by a court to reveal who instructed him to access the voicemails of model Elle MacPherson and five other public figures including Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes. Mulcaire is due to reveal these details by the end of next week in a move that will throw further light on the scale of phone hacking at the now defunct News International tabloid. The Guardian has learned that Mulcaire has lost an attempt to appeal against a court order obliging him to identify who instructed him to hack the phones, something he has resisted since February. Mulcaire, who was jailed in 2007 after pleading guilty to hacking the phones of members of the royal household for the News of the World, has been forced into making the disclosure following legal action by the comedian and actor Steve Coogan. In February, Coogan’s lawyers argued in court that if it were proved that the News of the World had instructed Mulcaire to hack into the phones of the six public figures, it would show that phone hacking was taking place at an industrial scale. Mulcaire must now name names in relation to MacPherson, Hughes and four others – the celebrity PR Max Clifford; the football agent Sky Andrew; Jo Armstrong, a legal adviser to the Professional Footballers Association; and Gordon Taylor, the former head of the PFA. At his trial in 2006 Muclaire also admitted hacking the phones of five of the six names in Coogan’s court order. Taylor was gagged by News International after reaching a £700,000 out-of-court settlement. Armstrong also settled with the paper out of court. “After six months of refusing to answer these questions I am pleased that Glenn Mulcaire has now finally been ordered to say who at the News of the World asked him to hack the mobile phones of Max Clifford, Sky Andrew, Gordon Taylor, Simon Hughes MP, Elle MacPherson and Jo Armstrong,” Coogan said. “Whilst I am pleased with this latest development I remain frustrated by Mr Mulcaire’s refusal to answer questions about who authorised him to unlawfully access my voicemail messages and will continue to press for these answers.” The latest developments are the second blow this week to News International. On Tuesday it emerged that NI’s head of human resources had been sent a letter by the News of the World’s former royal editor, Clive Goodman, alleging that phone hacking had been “widely discussed” in editorial meetings chaired by the paper’s former editor, Andy Coulson. Goodman was jailed at the same time as Mulcaire in early 2007 on the basis that he was the only News of the World journalist involved in intercepting mobile phone messages. Coulson has maintained that he was unaware of this activity at the News of the World when he was editor, while News International claimed phone hacking was the work of a single “rogue reporter” – Goodman – until December 2010. The high court ordered Mulcaire to reveal the names in relation to the six people and refused him leave to appeal against the order. Mulcaire went back to the court of appeal but on 1 August Lord Justice Toulson rejected his application for leave to appeal. Separately, Mulcaire is appealing against an order requesting him to name who ordered him to hack Coogan’s voicemail, and a court case is expected to be listed in October. That appeal may fall by the wayside because News International has stopped paying his legal fees. However, Mulcaire is now suing News International in an attempt to force the company to continue paying his legal bills. Coogan’s solicitor, John Kelly of Schillings, described Toulson’s decision to refuse Mulcaire leave to appeal as “a very significant development”. He said: “He will now have to identify exactly who at the News of the World asked him to access the mobile phones of the named individuals and who he provided the information to at the News of the World. Mr Mulcaire is due to provide these answers by the end of the month and we await his answers with interest.” Last month Coogan joined Hugh Grant at the vanguard of the campaign to force the News of the World’s publisher to come clean about the tactics employed by its journalists to get stories. Coogan, who has had his private life picked over by the tabloids, went on Newsnight to express how thrilled he was that the News of the World had been closed down. •
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• Hit F5 to refresh or turn on the automatic widget below • Email scott.murray@guardian.co.uk with your thoughts • The best matches and bets in the Football League 11.55am: Max Boyce is to sing a rendition of Hymns and Arias at the Liberty Stadium ahead of Swansea City’s first ever Premier League fixture , against Wigan tomorrow. Here he is wheeling out his act at the Millennium Stadium: Mike Harding wants to get on the phone to Rochdale ahead of next week’s Hartlepool game, there’s clearly a few quid to be made in this racket. 11.45am: Paul Wilson is at Carrington for Sir Alex Ferguson’s press conference. Fun and games at Carrington this morning. Fergie started his press conference a few minutes early, catching out a few reporters who were actually on time but still had to creep in quietly while he was speaking. The United manager broke off at one point to berate one hack in particular, who was just returning from a ban. “What’s the matter, did you oversleep or something?” Cool as you like, the journalist had a riposte ready. “No,” he said. “I’d forgotten how to get here, that’s all. I went to the Cliff first but there was nobody there.” Fergie had no comeback to that, except to laugh along with everyone else. 11.40am: A dispatch from our man at London Colney. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Dominic Fifield! En route to Arsenal’s press conference today with the same old issues nagging away: possible incoming transfers; Samir Nasri’s departure for Manchester City; team selection for an awkward game against Liverpool given the injuries and suspensions that appear to have eaten into Arsene Wenger’s options; maybe even some thoughts on his new captain, Robin van Persie. Liverpool’s visit to the Emirates last season, when Arsenal led in stoppage time but shipped an equaliser to an 111th minute penalty, rather summed up the fragility that has undermined this squad too often in recent times. Will be intriguing to see how this patched up side copes with the fixture this time around, particularly given the money Kenny Dalglish has spent on his own squad over the summer and the likelihood that these clubs are competing directly for a place in the top four. And you can clearly add frustration at Uefa’s disciplinary proceedings to that list now. 11.35am: Uefa are to start disciplinary proceedings against Arsene Wenger, for using the phone. Wenger is in hot water for circumventing – i.e. brazenly flouting – his touchline ban against Udinese. There’s a moral compare and contrast to be made with Jose Mourinho getting away with that eye-popping brouhaha at the end of Thursday morning’s el travesto , no doubt, but not by this Football Live Blog hack. Jose’s clearly been awarded points for artistic merit, and deservedly so. He’s a very entertaining man. 11.25am: A reminder that Lincoln City’s Keith Alexander Memorial Tournament takes place this weekend at at Cherry Willingham Community School, Lincoln, tomorrow . Other events: Premier League Saturday Sunderland v Newcastle United (12pm) Arsenal v Liverpool (12.45pm) Aston Villa v Blackburn Rovers (3pm) Everton v QPR (3pm) Swansea v Wigan (3pm) Chelsea v West Brom (3pm) Sunday Nowrwich City v Stoke (1.30pm) Wolves v Fulham (2pm) Bolton v Man City (4pm) Monday Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur (8pm) The Championship Brighton v Blackpool (3pm) Bristol City v Portsmouth (3pm) Burnley v Cardiff City (3pm) Coventry v Watford (3pm) Derby County v Doncaster Rovers (3pm) Hull City v Crystal Palace (3pm) Nottingham Forest v Leicester (3pm) Reading v Barnsley (3pm) Southampton v Millwall (3pm) Peterborough v Ipswich Town (5.20pm) 11.15am: It’s the Tyne-Wear / Wear-Tyne derby tomorrow, and Shola Ameobi is set to start . Also from the official Newcastle website (www.sportsdirect.com/firesale) is this Peter Lovenkrands goal celebration wallpaper . It’s computer wallpaper, not the real stuff you hang on your walls. Although if you are desirous of PC-generated interior decoration, this report is the literary equivalent of beige, and would probably do for the downstairs lav at least, the hallway at a push. 11.05am: HOT TRANSFER CHAT. You’ve heard this one before, of course: Samir Nasri is heading for Manchester City. But Roberto Mancini is upping the ante this morning: he’s confirmed a deal is “very close”. Having said that , he also keeps saying “I don’t know, I don’t know” a lot on Sky Sports, so make of that what you will. 11am: Some reading matter for your morning tea break. Do people still have tea breaks? Maybe you’ve just woken up. Anyway, James Dart’s Football League Weekender , the nearest we’ll get to a Flowered Up reference all morning, mentions all the upcoming key matches, players to watch, goals of the week, best bets, and stuff you may have missed from off of the internet. It’s on! [flute solo] 10.55am: Fergie’s all upset about the state of Scottish football, it seems. (And no wonder; Hearts were abysmal last night, as good as Spurs were. From our people on the ground: Manchester United are playing Tottenham Hotspur on Monday and proud Scot Sir Alex Ferguson has just admitted he was surprised at the ease with which Spurs demolished Hearts in the Europa League first leg in Edinburgh. “I didn’t think they would win by that sort of score, the margin of victory was a surprise,” the United manager said of Spurs’ 5-0 away win. “They just had too much class for Hearts, even without Luka Modric. Class always tells in these situations, and Tottenham had so much more of it than Hearts.” 10.45am: OK, here’s the first job of the day for anyone who loves either football or social justice, and we all tick both boxes, no? The eejits at the Cabinet Office are opposing the full disclosure of documents relating to the Hillsborough disaster. Please, in the name of all that’s good and proper, put your name to this e-petition so its motion will automatically have to be heard by parliament. Here’s the obligatory celebrity angle: social networking’s Joey Barton is leading a Twitter campaign in support of the petition . 10.30am, and the first bit of breaking news on what promises to be a rollercoaster day (if your idea of freewheelin’ fun is staring at the Sky Sports News ticker until your eyes start spinning round in their sockets like the ball bearings in a washing machine drum): Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic has been ruled out for four to five weeks with a calf injury, United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed. The back four against Spurs on Monday could be an inexperienced Smalling-Jones-Evans-Evra. But then again, it is against Spurs, who haven’t won against United at home since 1872. Good morning, everyone. And welcome to our new weekly live football blog. We’ll keep you up to date with all the latest fixture news ahead of this weekend’s action, as well as breaking news and updates from the Premier League teams ahead of what is supposed to be the opening weekend of their season the second weekend of the season. Barry Glendenning Scott Murray guardian.co.uk
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Bomb explodes during Friday prayers at Sunni mosque in Khyber region At least eight people have been killed in a bomb explosion at a Pakistani mosque during the week’s most important prayer session. Iqbal Khan, a local administrator, said the explosion at the Sunni mosque in the Khyber tribal region on Friday also wounded at least 25 people. Local television reports said that at least 20 had been killed and 50 wounded, according to Reuters. About 300 people were in the mosque, and many were leaving when the blast occurred in Ghundi village. No group claimed responsibility for the bombing. The Taliban and other insurgents have attacked scores of targets in the area, which lies along the Afghan border. Pakistan Global terrorism guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Bomb explodes during Friday prayers at Sunni mosque in Khyber region At least eight people have been killed in a bomb explosion at a Pakistani mosque during the week’s most important prayer session. Iqbal Khan, a local administrator, said the explosion at the Sunni mosque in the Khyber tribal region on Friday also wounded at least 25 people. Local television reports said that at least 20 had been killed and 50 wounded, according to Reuters. About 300 people were in the mosque, and many were leaving when the blast occurred in Ghundi village. No group claimed responsibility for the bombing. The Taliban and other insurgents have attacked scores of targets in the area, which lies along the Afghan border. Pakistan Global terrorism guardian.co.uk
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Unionists compare decision to free IRA bomber Brendan Lillis on compassionate grounds to Scotland releasing Lockerbie bomber A row has erupted within Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government over the release of gravely ill republican prisoner Brendan Lillis, with unionists comparing the case to Scotland freeing the Lockerbie bomber. Democratic Unionist assemblyman Edwin Poots said today that freeing Lillis could mark an “al-Megrahi moment” for the justice minister, David Ford, who made the decision to release Lillis early. Poots was referring to last year’s controversial decision by the Scottish government to free the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing on the grounds that the Libyan agent was dying, even though al-Megrahi is still alive two years later. Ford rejected the comparison and pointed out that Lillis, a convicted IRA bomber, could, unlike Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, be re-arrested at any time. Lillis is still only out on licence, the Alliance minister said. Earlier this year it was decided that Lillis was too ill to stand trial because he has a debilitating form of arthritis that affects his spine. In July the Northern Ireland Prison Service said there were insufficient compassionate grounds to justify Lillis’s release. The case was passed for consideration by the Parole Commissioners. They also ruled he should not be released. This stance changed last week when the Prison Service confirmed a doctor had recommended Lillis be moved to the City Hospital. He was then transferred, but remained under police guard until his release from custody on Thursday evening. Unionists have so far been critical of the decision to release him but Sinn Féin and the SDLP have said it was a victory for “common sense”. Lillis’s release follows a determined campaign by his partner Roisin Lynch and supporters to have him freed from the top security Maghaberry prison. Speaking this morning about his release, Lynch said Lillis would have died in jail unless he was freed on humanitarian grounds. She said it brought to an end an “horrific” two years. “Being able to walk into that room tonight and see my partner without having guards sit there, being able to visit without people watching me, to kiss him without being watched on camera, I feel vindicated, absolutely vindicated,” she said. She added: “I have told the truth all along about Brendan’s medical condition and the paperwork backs up what I have said. “You have to show compassion on some level. I would be just as compassionate if it was someone from the other side of the fence that was in the same situation. Bringing him back into jail, lying in a bed, the only place he can go is down.” Northern Ireland IRA Sinn Féin Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk
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Rockets fired into Israeli city following overnight Israeli air strikes on targets in Gaza More than 10 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel following a series of overnight Israeli air strikes on targets in the north and south of the strip in which a teenage boy was killed and more than a dozen people injured. The action followed an audacious three-pronged assault near Israel’s border with Egypt on Thursday, in which eight Israelis and at least five militants were killed in the deadliest attack in Israel for several years. The Israeli military said two of the rockets fired by militants in Gaza on Friday caused damage and injuries at a synagogue and school in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod. S Israel deployed its Iron Dome mobile air defence system and intercepted at least one of the Grad and Qassam rockets. Most landed on open ground. The Israeli air force struck seven targets in Gaza in the early hours of Friday, which it said included a weapons storage unit, two tunnels used for smuggling arms and militant training sites. Thirteen-year-old Mahmoud Abu Samra was killed and up to 18 others wounded in an air strike on a home near the former intelligence service headquarters in Gaza City, according to medics quoted by the Palestinian news agency Ma’an. Israeli officials said the Gaza-based Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) was responsible for the attacks near the Red Sea resort of Eilat. A large squad of militants crossed through tunnels from Gaza into Egypt, and then travelled 125 miles (200km) south through the lawless Sinai peninsula before crossing into Egypt north of Eilat, according to officials. Although Israel has begun building a security fence along two sections of its border with Egypt, only about a tenth of it is completed and officials acknowledge the border is porous. According to reports in the Israeli media, the IDF believe the purpose of the attack was to kidnap a civilian or a soldier. An Israeli official told the Guardian: “We knew they were out there,” suggesting intelligence had picked up the possibility of an attack. Within hours of the attack, Israeli warplanes struck a house in Rafah, a town in Gaza close to the Egyptian border and site of hundreds of illegal tunnels. Five members of the PRC were killed, including its military commander, Abu Awad Nayrab, and his two-year-old son Malek. A PRC spokesman, Abu Mujahed, said Israel would be held responsible for “all the consequences of its crimes” in Rafah. Ismail Radwan, a senior Hamas leader, condemned the “massacre in Rafah” and told the Palestinian news agency Ma’an that “this crime won’t stop the resistance and won’t stop all Palestinians”. Hamas denied it had any connection to Thursday’s attacks. An Israeli government official said it held Hamas responsible for “terrorism emanating from their territory”. The PRC, formed in 2000, is an umbrella group of militants, some of whom are disaffected former members of Fatah and Hamas, the dominant factions in Palestinian politics. It was one of three groups claiming to have abducted the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held captive for the past five years. Thursday’s attacks appear to be the result of careful planning and co-ordination. Six Israeli civilians and two soldiers were killed in attacks on two buses, a private car and a military vehicle involving gunfire, mortars and a roadside bomb. Israel Gaza Palestinian territories Middle East Harriet Sherwood guardian.co.uk
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• Eight Afghan police and one foreigner dead • New Zealand special forces and British troops join fighting At least eight Afghan police and one foreigner are believed to have been killed after the Taliban marked the anniversary of Afghanistan’s independence from Britain with an elaborate, multi-phased attack on the British Council building in Kabul. The assault on the compound in the west of the city began when a suicide car bomber detonated a vehicle at the front gate of the compound. Witnesses in nearby shops said several heavily armed insurgents then rushed out of a side street shouting, firing in the air and racing towards to the open gate. Afghan officials believed the number of attackers was between two and four. All British nationals affected by the attack on the British Council in Kabul are now safe, said the Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt. Jumadin, a worker at a nearby petrol station, said the force of the initial blast was enough to throw him across the ground. “I thought I was going to die,” he said. “When the policemen rushed to the area from the police district at least three were shot dead near the building.” At midday the relatively upscale Kabul neighbourhood resembled a war zone. Six hours after the beginning of the attack, fighting continued between the attackers and security forces, including British troops. Loud explosions and long bursts of gunfire could be heard from within the building, circling helicopters released counter-missile flares and a medical evacuation helicopter briefly landed and then departed again just 50m from the site. After an initial period when the fighting appeared to have ended, a volley of machine-gun fire sent British soldiers ducking behind their armoured vehicles. Afghan officials said at least one attacker was still at large in the compound. With the injured rushed to a variety of different hospitals and the building still not cleared, estimates of the number killed and wounded varied wildly. The interior minister said it thought 12 people had been injured and eight killed, all of whom were either police or private security guards. The heavily fortified compound is usually protected by a mixed force of Afghan and Nepali guards. “It is a sad fact that once again an attack aimed at the international community has killed Afghans,” Burt said. “This attack, against people working to help build a better future for Afghanistan, will not lessen the UK’s resolve to support the Afghan people.” British soldiers rushed to the UK government’s cultural and educational mission in the country, joining Afghan police, soldiers and the New Zealand SAS. The area hosts not only the British Council, but also two of the country’s top politicians – the leader of the opposition and one of Hamid Karzai’s vice-presidents. Despite the assistance of the Afghan and international forces an insurgent was still at large in the compound more than six hours after the attack. Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman reached by phone, said the target was both the British Council and a guesthouse that he claimed, it would appear incorrectly, was located in the same compound. “We attacked the buildings because we want to remind the British that we won our independence from them before and we will do it again,” he said. Although Afghanistan was not a formal colony of Britain at the time, the country celebrates the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan war in 1919, a small-scale affair compared with the preceding conflicts, when the country won the right to pursue a foreign policy independent of the British Raj. The Afghan government, which has in the past tried to restrict the live coverage of terrorist attacks, appeared to put restraints on at least one television channel called Afghan News, which abruptly dropped its reporting to switch to patriotic songs. Journalists were also ordered to stop taking photos when what appeared to be a seriously wounded New Zealand special forces soldier was stretchered out of the building and loaded on to the medevac helicopter. New Zealand’s SAS, which runs a quick reaction force for Kabul, also suffered casualties during June’s siege of the Intercontinental Hotel. One soldier suffered a chest would while the other broke his jaw in the fighting. New Zealand special forces also insisted photographers stop taking photos. They said it was to protect the identities of the wounded being removed from the building, although special forces also try to avoid being photographed. Even as fighting continued President Karzai, senior officials and some diplomats marked the anniversary with a small ceremony inside the walls of his massively fortified palace compound on the other side of Kabul. Taliban Afghanistan Jon Boone guardian.co.uk
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