Taliban attack Afghanistan's parliament with six gunmen and a suicide bomber. Reuters.

Vehicles destroyed in the bombing. Reuters. 

The Taliban attacked Afghanistan's parliament building with six gunmen and a suicide bomber. Reuters. The attack occurred as Afghanistan's parliament was meeting with the interim defense minister. The bomber exploded his vehicle outside the gate while the six gunmen attacked with gunfire. Afghan security forces were able to kill the attackers after a two hour firefight. The attack killed one person and wounded thirty more, but no members of parliament were hurt. Though the attack largely failed, it is concerning that the attackers were able to get so close the to compound. They had to get through multiple checkpoints. The Taliban took credit for the attack, which comes on the heels of several victories in their summer offensive. Afghan security forces have struggled since the withdrawal of the majority of U.S. troops. 

My Comment:

A very bad day for the Afghan security forces. Yes, they repelled this attack, and no members of parliament were hurt or killed, but the fact that it happened at all is not a good sign. Something must have gone terribly wrong for these Taliban to even get close enough to carry out this attack. My guess is one or more of the following happened. None of these are mutually exclusive. 

1. The Afghan security forces are incompetent. This is certainly a possibility. Given how much attrition they have suffered since the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops, it would not surprise me if they had second rate troops guarding the parliament building. Even if the troops guarding the parliament were comparatively good, they still might not be up to snuff. It's possible that the Taliban were just able to fool them with fake documents or something.

2. The Afghan security forces are corrupt. Someone paid off the local security forces to look the other way while these guys moved in. Given how poor of a country Afghanistan is, it wouldn't be surprising if soldiers and police could be bought.

3. The most disturbing possibility is that there was a traitor or traitors that helped the Taliban get past the checkpoints. If true that is devastating for the Afghanistan military. My guess is that any troops in the capital are hand picked to be the most loyal, if not the most effective. If the Taliban can get help from them, they can get help from anyone in the Afghan military.

It's clear that this was a symbolic victory for the Taliban. Though they missed their target, and only killed one presumably random woman, they showed that they are still relevant and still powerful. Getting fighters that close to parliament is no small feat, and it shows that the Taliban has the ability to threaten the very seat of Afghanistan's government. 

The Taliban have been on the march lately and have been winning victory after victory. It's clear that the Afghan troops are having a very tough time with them. This latest attack shows that the Taliban are still in the fight, and that they may even be winning the war. Without U.S. troops to give them backbone, the Afghan soldiers are proving to be less proficient then the Taliban. I'm not sure if the Taliban are winning the war, but you can't say they are losing it at this point either.

The wild card is, as it is in so many other Sunni countries with instability, ISIS. ISIS has been making strives in Afghanistan and is actively recruiting from disgruntled Taliban who feel that the Taliban haven't been effective enough at winning the war. They feel that ISIS, which has taken over vast amounts of territory and survived against the full onslaught of U.S. forces, is the horse to bet on. They may have a point as well. Time and time again ISIS has been able to exploit instability and take over where other groups of insurgents have failed. There is at least a decent chance of it happening again, especially if people think the Taliban are on their way out. 

From the Taliban's perspective, this latest attack is crucial, not only in their fight against the Afghan government but also ISIS as well. They are showing to those who would join ISIS that they are still relevant and are powerful enough to not only take territory but that they can threaten the heart of the Afghan government itself. Though the attack didn't kill any of their targets, at least they showed that they are more powerful then ISIS and are still an effective counter to the Afghan government. ISIS hasn't accomplished all that much in Afghanistan yet, so perhaps this will help nip the insurgency against the insurgency in the bud. 

Time will tell if the Taliban prevail as the leading insurgency in Afghanistan, or if ISIS does. The best possible situation for the Afghan government, and indeed the people of Afghanistan, is for both groups to start fighting each other more then they fight the army. If the choice is between a brutal Islamic theocracy, an even more brutal Islamic theocracy, or a corrupt and inefficient government, let's hope the corrupt and inefficient government wins out... If they don't it really doesn't matter if it is ISIS or the Taliban who win. Everyone else will lose.

EDIT: Updated with video capturing the moment of the blast and the aftermath