Independence Day in Afghanistan

Via Middle East Times -

KABUL -- President Hamid Karzai led Afghanistan's Independence Day celebrations Sunday with a call to the country's young people to educate themselves to preserve their freedom.

Karzai told tens of thousands of people gathered in the capital's sports stadium that Afghanistan's youth should "spend every second of their lives in learning" to maintain the country's cherished independence.

Reiterating condemnation of Taliban attacks on the 88th anniversary of full sovereignty from Britain, he warned there were "still plots against our independence by the enemies of this land."

Karzai denounced "the killing of innocent people - men, women, and children," referring to the 15 people, including 11 civilians, killed in a Taliban-linked suicide bombing in southern Afghanistan Saturday.

Although Afghanistan was never a full colony of Britain, London, under a treaty, controlled its foreign affairs until agreeing to allow full independence August 19, 1919.