Kabul - In Afghanistan, the news of Osama bin Laden's death has drawn cautious welcome, with hopes that the country will eventually enjoy peace. Fears about retaliation from al-Qaeda and the militant Taliban, have prompted Kabul and other Afghan cities to raise the security alarm to the highest ever level. While the whole US and other places targeted by al-Qaeda's terrorist acts, celebrated the death of al-Qaeda boss, people of Afghanistan, who bore the brunt of bin Laden's and operatives' terror could not express themselves in public. They instead opted to stick to the TV to watch the events and exchange text messages congratulating each other over his death and wondering if Afghanistan would bask in peace and stability finally after 10 years of ambush fights with Taliban and al-Qaeda. It was two days ago that an official in the Afghan government, who spoke to me on condition of anonymity because he wasn't allowed to talk to the media, told me that the US officials had asked Afghan President Karzai to raise the security alarm in Afghanistan for potential serious national terrorist acts within a couple of days. “American officials asked President Karzai to call for closing schools and governmental buildings because they have first-hand information of major terrorist operations in Afghanistan," he added. While Karzai tightened security around governmental buildings and officials' residences, he did not divulge the information with the nation in order to keep the people calm. Today with the news breaking of the US operation in Pakistan and the death of bin Laden, there is no doubt that the request for raising security alert to the highest level had to do with the US operation to kill its No 1 enemy. Karzai, who was attending a conference in Kabul yesterday when the news broke out, used the opportunity to address the issue live on local television. But instead of congratulating the nation for bin Laden's killing, he asked the Americans on all those operations conducted in Afghanistan which left many civilians dead. However, jubilation erupted in an Afghan town �" in the birthplace of Ahmad Shah Masoud, the late chief commander of Northern Alliance who was killed a few days before the September 11, 2001 by al-Qadea operatives posed as journalists. Masoud, nicknamed the lion of Panjshir because of his resistance to Taliban, was laid to rest in a beautiful tomb, built by local people. For Masoud's supporters, who saw his death as a great lost for Afghanistan, celebrated bin Laden's death on a massive scale. The news of bin Laden's death spread slowly across Afghanistan. People are not sure if his death is an end to all problems they have. When I stopped ordinary people on one street in Kabul to talk to them, many of them declined to comment on Bin Laden's slaying. They apparently had fears that they may be punished by his supporters.
