KABUL: Coordinated attacks by Taliban insurgents across Afghanistan showed intelligence failures, particularly on the part of NATO forces, President Hamid Karzai said Monday.
Afghan forces regained control of Kabul Monday after an 18-hour assault mounted by Taliban militants, some disguised as women in burqas, in the biggest attack on the capital in a decade of war.
"The terrorists' infiltration in Kabul and other provinces is an intelligence failure for us and especially for NATO and should be seriously investigated," Karzai said in a statement.
The president praised the "bravery and sacrifice of the security forces who quickly and timely reacted to contain the terrorists".
"Afghan security forces proved to the people that they can defend their country successfully," he said.
The attacks in Kabul and neighbouring provinces on Sunday and overnight killed 11 members of the security forces and four civilians and wounded 32 civilians and around 42 security personnel, Karzai said.
Thirty-six insurgents were also killed nationwide, the interior ministry said.
Explosions and gunfire rocked the Afghan capital Sunday as embassies and foreign military bases were targeted in what the Taliban said was the start of its spring offensive.
The attacks raised fears over the precarious security situation in Afghanistan as NATO prepares to withdraw its 130,000 troops by the end of 2014 and hand responsibility for security to Afghan forces.
"That they did manage to pull off simultaneous complex attacks shows quite a level of sophistication in preventing detection... so that would be a failure in intelligence," said Martine van Bijlert of the Afghanistan Analysts' Network.
"But having said that, in a big bustling city like Kabul it is incredibly difficult to stop this type of attack."
Afghan security forces took the lead in countering the assault which was finally quelled early Monday, but a spokesman for NATO forces in the country said they had provided air support in response to requests from the Afghans.
NATO was quick to hail the performance of the Afghans, who are progressively taking over security duties across the country.
"I am enormously proud of how quickly Afghan security forces responded to (the) attacks in Kabul," said General John Allen, commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
"They were on scene immediately, well-led and well-coordinated. They integrated their efforts, helped protect their fellow citizens and largely kept the insurgents contained."
US Ambassador Ryan Crocker said the ability of Afghan security forces to respond to the attacks was a "clear sign of progress", while ISAF labelled the attacks "largely ineffective".
However, the fact that so many militants managed to make it through Kabul's so-called "Ring of Steel" checkpoints and attack high-value targets in the heart of the capital has raised questions about lapses in security.
A Western diplomat with security expertise told AFP: "I don't share at all the optimism of NATO or the Americans.
"It's true that they did it better than in the past -- there is progress but still, to build up so many attacks and being able to launch them simultaneously demonstrates clearly (the Taliban's) ability to strike where and when they want," he said on condition of anonymity.
The US, British, German and Japanese embassy compounds came under fire as militants attacked the city's diplomatic enclave and tried to storm parliament, sparking a gun battle as lawmakers and bodyguards fired back from the rooftop.
Outside the capital, militants attacked government buildings in Logar province, the airport in Jalalabad, and a police facility in the town of Gardez in Paktya province.
The attacks marked the biggest assault on the capital in 10 years of war in terms of their spread and coordination, observers say.
In September last year Taliban attacks targeting locations including the US embassy and headquarters of foreign troops in Kabul killed at least 14 during a 19-hour siege.
And in August, nine people were killed when suicide bombers attacked the British Council cultural centre.
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