Seven people were killed by a suicide bomb attack in Kabul that came just hours after President Obama's surprise trip to the region. Obama spent just six hours in Afghanistan, all during the night, where he spoke to troops and met with President Hamid Karzai. After giving a televised speech to Americans back home from Bagram Air Force base, he left before dawn on Air Force One. Then around 6:00 a.m. local time, several loud explosions went off the that could be heard across the city. The victims were all Afghan civilians.

The attack was centered on the "Green Village," a protected compound populated mostly by foreign workers, including United Nations employees. After the bombs went off, Taliban fighters attacked the compound with grenades and small arms, but were beaten back by the Afghan army. Taliban fighters took credit for the attack saying they were sending a message to President Obama — which is exactly what Obama said about them in regard to this visit and the agreement to keep for Afghanistan as a strategic partner for the next decade. The hastily assembled assault did not reach American forces, but does show that the extraordinary measures taken to keep the president's arrival a secret are still needed and that the fighting in Afghanistan is far from over.

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Dashiell Bennett