Conference on Kabul's future prompts lockdown

A major conference with leaders and envoys from over 60 countries is being held in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital, on Monday to discuss plans to hand over more responsibility for the country's security to the Afghan government in its conflict with Taliban fighters.

The meeting is part of a bid by the Afghan government to follow a process of transition from dependence on support from foreign forces to running the country independently as tens of thousands of US-led Nato troops are expected to eventually return home.

Top delegates attending the largest international conference to ever take place in the city include US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.

In preparation for the meeting, Kabul has been turned into a fortress as Nato and Afghan security forces flood the streets amid security fears.

Mark Sedwill, Nato's top civilian representative in Afghanistan, said "insurgents" would try to launch an attack and no amount of security preparations could be enough.

"We have to prepare ourselves for the fact that the insurgents are going to seek to disrupt this," Sedwill said.

Nato helicopters will also be circling over the city in a "show of force" to try and deter an attack, said Lieutenant Commander Katie Kendrick, a spokeswoman for Nato-led forces.

But with the city put in lockdown, daily life for Afghan civilians has been severely disrupted.

As James Bays reports from Kabul, even residents seeking vital medical attention are being turned away from hospitals.

[July 19, 2010]