NATO & Afghan forces repel most complex assault on Kabul in decade of war; 11 killed as Taliban strengthens its negotiating hand (+ analysis); China to target domestic growth and buy Euro debt; Moody's cuts ratings of French banks; US tries to block UN vote on Palestine; African Union asks world to seize moment against militant group; and more

Top of the Agenda: Afghan, NATO Forces Defeat Insurgents in Kabul

Afghan and NATO forces defeated and killed Taliban militant fighters following a sustained, twenty-hour attack (al-Jazeera) in the Afghan capital of Kabul. The Taliban launched rockets at the US embassy and NATO headquarters, raising serious concerns about Afghanistan's security situation as NATO continues a phased withdrawal.

At least eleven civilians and four police officers were killed during the most complex assault (BBC) on Kabul in the ten-year Afghanistan war. Six international security officers were injured at the NATO base, but there were no injuries at the US embassy.

US Ambassador Ryan Crocker said he thought the Taliban-allied Haqqani network (Reuters)--the group credited with introducing suicide bombing into Afghanistan--was responsible for the attack. Crocker also blamed the Haqqani network for a truck bomb that exploded and injured seventy-seven US troops on September 10.

Analysis

This CFR Interactive Timeline examines the events that precipitated the US war in Afghanistan as well as the history of the war.

With NATO flailing in Afghanistan, the attacks on Kabul only strengthen the Taliban's position before negotiations begin, writes Frank Ledwidge in the Guardian.

Don Rassler and Vahid Brown of West Point's Combating Terrorism Center report on the role of the local Haqqani network in the evolution of a global al-Qaeda, with roots in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the 1970s.

Americans often lump Afghanistan's insurgent groups into one group and label them the "Taliban," but in truth, Afghanistan is home to several insurgent actors, including the Haqqani network, the Quetta Shura Taliban, Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin, and various local networks, writes Andrew Exum in Foreign Policy.

 

PACIFIC RIM

China to Develop Domestic, Global Growth

China cannot grow in isolation and will look to increase its domestic demand (BBC), Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said at the World Economic Forum in Dalian. Wen also indicated that China was willing to invest in European debt, but wants the country recognized as a market economy.

SOUTH KOREA: The cost of insuring the country's sovereign debt (Yonhap) against default hit a sixteen-month high in response to growing concerns over eurozone sovereign debt contagion to the global economy.

 

ELSEWHERE:

Moody's cuts credit ratings of two French banks

US lobbying to block Palestinian state vote

African Union calls on world to defeat militants

 

This is an excerpt of the CFR.org Daily News Brief. The full version is available on CFR.org.