Kabul Madness
 

To the Balmoral guys, we are sharing your grief today. A very dark day for those still on tour....to the families, our thoughts are with you. A sad way to go for those struggling to get a job back home.

For those of you guys considering staying, think of your families....the money is not worth it. To the management, do you still think your head in the sand attitude towards security is prudent?

Blue Skies B.

By Al Arabiya with Agencies

Afghan insurgent group Hezb-e-Islami claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a minibus that killed 12 people, including 7 foreigners, near Kabul airport on Tuesday and said it was launched in retaliation for a film mocking the Prophet Mohammed.

“A woman wearing a suicide vest blew herself up in response to the anti-Islam video,” said Zubair Sediqqi, a spokesman for Hezb, which does not usually carry out such attacks, according to Reuters.

A senior police source said seven of those killed were foreigners working for an international courier company.

An Afghan official confirmed the death toll and said that two Afghan policemen were wounded. “The foreigners were from a private company working at the airport,” the official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The attack took place on the eight-lane highway in front of a wedding hall, but at the time of the blast, sometime after 6:30 am (0200 GMT), the road would have been deserted.

Witnesses said there was smoke spewing into the sky and a heavy police deployment at the scene of the attack, contributing to a major traffic snarl-up on the busy road.

The attack underscored growing anger in Afghanistan over the film, which has enraged much of the Muslim world and led to the killing last week of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans.

Thousands of protesters clashed with police in the Afghan capital on Monday, burning cars and hurling rocks at security forces in the worst outbreak of violence since February rioting over the inadvertent burning of copies of the Quran by U.S. soldiers.

The suicide attack was the first in Kabul involving a woman and the foreigners killed were mostly Russian and South African pilots working for an international courier company, senior police sources said.

Condolences
 

I can't agree more. People do not realise how dangerous Afghanistan is-especially the desk jockeys back home in their airconditioned offices figuring out how to save a buck at the aircrews expense. It is truly sickening and is endemic to SA aviation at present. All of them are chasing the now not so mighty $. Our deepest condolences to those who perished in a far away land in someone elses fight. Stand together guys-insist on security, flares chaff etc. We will all continue to be prime targets as long as the companies try and save money by basing their crews in the country, better get based outside and fly in and then back out again.

Terrible terrible news. In some ways was so surprised it hadn't happened sooner with these countries so unpredictable and dangerous. So sick to death with elements in Islam that are so aggressive and who are totally not tolerant of anything but their views and way of life. If there is an Allah or God surely it's up to him to lay out justice when the time comes and not man ??

any names released yet?

Kabul Suicide Blast
 

RIP to all those good people taken so senselessly in Kabul this morning.

What a sad day for aviation, for the Balmoral crew and their family's. The guys would have probably been trying to get their career going and provide for their family at home and then someone made a video on YouTube... Makes me sick.

Kabul madness
 

Don't necessarily blame Balmoral, as there is only so much a company can do.
If one is going to work from a known compound and wearing the uniform or not it matters little.
If you have seen the traffic in Kabull**** you will understand that survival from a coordinated plot would be almost futile.
Those that forage here for "Aviation" and salary don't despair, one word you learn very quickly is "ensharla".The boys understood and know of the "long lines" waiting to replace them.
They had a choice.
Today I pain. I heard the blast.

Vagabond is right.. this wasn't a lack of security issue in the compound but an attack in traffic.. and that's very easy to carry out when the traffic is jammed up as is the case en-route to the airport...
There are security compounds very close to the airport and it might be time for contract companies to re-think the Kabul housing in Akhbar Kahn district.. Another improvement might be to stop using easily identifiable vehicles such as large shiny SUVs and people movers.. I always feel pretty relaxed when being driven by a local driver in an ordinary car.. often with an Afghan scarf around my neck... why try to stand out ?

"Don't necessarily blame Balmoral, as there is only so much a company can do. If one is going to work from a known compound and wearing the uniform or not it matters little. If you have seen the traffic in Kabull**** you will understand that survival from a coordinated plot would be almost futile. Those that forage here for "Aviation" and salary don't despair, one word you learn very quickly is "ensharla".The boys understood and know of the "long lines" waiting to replace them. They had a choice. Today I pain. I heard the blast."

Humm....You obviously did not work for them. Without getting into the short comings, there is a hell of a lot a company can do. Starting with the obvious, if you become the biggest South African contracting company in Afghan, you need to have your ducks in a row starting with what you call yourselves on a fuel slip.

Blame......it is rather futile at this stage. Enough to say that in any conflict situation, if a company is making good profit, there should be no expense spared at basic security.

As to the long lines of guys waiting in the wings to replace them, time shall tell. I know a lot of guys that will rather change career than go back....so shake the tree and watch the monkeys fall out. Most of the guys would have given the left nut for a job back home. It was never about the money.....time will also tell if the other SA based companies are now going to adleast match the US based salaries.

I agree with you on one point.....there is a lot of pain and it is close to home....

Shake the tree, shake the tree....:ugh:

Nice in theory GS but the reason that the South African companies are getting the contracts in the first place is that they bid much lower and can do that based on their relatively low expenditure re: salaries...
Increase in salaries would equal a loss of income/contracts.

RIP you guys.

One way to deal with these suicide bombers. You gotta think like them. They are thinking about the afterlife. To combat this scourge, think of their afterlife too.

Feed their remains to pigs. Or scoop up the remains, sew it up inside a pig and bury it facing west. In a pig farm.

No virgins, no paradise.

Do it every time and no more suicide bombers.

My condolences to the family and friends of those lost. I've been shot around on contract, but this is terrible.

There's that religion of peace at work again. Hand me my MQ9 control station, there's work to be done...

Well said African Skies, although I say don't waste the pig, let the remains pass through the full intestinal system and drop out the other end.

Condolences to the families and Balmoral team.

My most sincere condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives in Kabul today.

RIP fellers. Blue skies.

Why did they travel in a non-armoured bus?Security not a primary issue for Balmoral then..so so sad.

My condolences to all concerned, a very sad day.
May their memory be a blessing.

I go to bed very sad this morning, the very first person to ever take me flying was among the blast victims, a real hardworking, unassuming gentleman of aviation.

It is heart wrenching just thinking about how senseless these killings are, i am lost for words.

May all the victims rest in eternal peace, and may their families find the strength and courage to move on. Very sad indeed! :sad:

Time for any civilian operation in a war zone to think like the military, and operate under military tactics. There's no "safe" areas in Afghanistan, it's no different to Vietnam.
The anti-attack tactics involve dispersion, first up. A minivan full of attractive Taliban targets, might as well have a bullseye mounted on it. There's no way 8, 10 or a dozen Westerners should travel in a minivan.
Split 'em up, and let the local taxis transport them, one or two at a time. Instruct the taxis to keep a minimum separation distance of 150M.

There was one particular VC attack during the Vietnam war that drove the message home. Some office pogoes from HQ in Nui Dat decided they wanted to experience the war first hand.
9 of 'em climbed into an APC for a swan around when the APC's went on patrol.
They left the hatch open. It only took one VC to place a 155mm shell in the centre of the track, to bring the APC's to a halt, suspecting a booby trap.
As soon as the APC's stopped, the VC stepped out of the J alongside the last APC - the one carrying all the pogoes - and he chucked a 10kg satchel charge through the open hatch. I saw the result, and it wasn't pretty.
That was a very black day for Australian forces, and it need not have happened, if standard loss-minimisation tactics had been enforced.