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Smoke and flames light up the night from a Taliban attack on the Intercontinental hotel in Kabul - Source: Getty -
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A New Zealand expert in international relations says yesterday's attack on a hotel in Afghanistan illustrates the fact that the Taliban still maintains a strong-hold in the country.
Two members of New Zealand's SAS were wounded in the attack at the Intercontinental Hotel in Afghan's capital Kabul.
The attack, which saw suicide bombers and heavily armed Taliban insurgents storm the hotel lasted several hours and resulted in at least 10 civilian deaths.
The attack comes just a week after President Obama announced the United States would end their combat role in Afghanistan by the conclusion of 2014, pulling out 30,000 troops by the end of the month.
Dr Robert Patman, Professor of International Relations at Otago University, told TV ONE's Breakfast that the incident shows that Afghan forces were not in a position "at this point of time" to cope on their own.
"In a sense this attack couldn't be better planned from the Taliban point of view just a week after Obama's announcement.
"It draws attention to the inadequacy of Afghan forces, their lack of readiness to handle security threats like this."
US President Barack Obama was however quick to respond to the incident saying the United States was successful in its mission in Afghanistan and has "severely crippled" al Qaeda's capacities.
"The tide of war is receding. We have shifted to a transition phase," Obama told a news conference yesterday afternoon.
He said it was in the US national interest that Afghanistan not collapse. Such a collapse, he added, would allow al Qaeda to rebuild
Afghan President Hamid Karzai also released a statement saying the withdrawal plan still stood.
"This insurgent attack cannot stop our security transition process," Karzai said.
Patman believes that the incident will be an opportunity for opponents of the Obama administration to suggest troop cuts in the country are premature.
"The Obama people will however say this will not serve as a break on the planned withdrawal," he said.
Patman said it will probably just reinforce his point that the Afghan government need to accelerate efforts to get on top of security challenges they face and that they can't rely on foreign troops indefinitely.
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