The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Kabul

Afghan police commanders on Sunday ordered 7,000 officers onto the capital's streets, including the country's youngest cadets, to secure Kabul ahead of Independence Day celebrations.

The unprecedented blanket of security came amid a spike in violence around the country - more than 97 people were reported killed in clashes and attacks - and served as an indication of how militants pose a growing threat to the capital.

Clashes in Afghanistan's south and east killed 73 Taliban fighters and nine private security guards, while a roadside blast killed 10 policemen, officials said.

The security increase in Kabul came a day before the country celebrates the 89th anniversary of its independence from Britain. The Interior Ministry said the capital's police would search buildings and cars to "create an environment of trust and prevent any disruptive actions by the enemy."

Any breach of security during the celebration would be an embarrassment for President Hamid Karzai's government. In April, gunmen fired on Karzai at a military parade in Kabul from a rented hotel room several hundred yards from the review stands where dignitaries sat. The attack killed three people, including a lawmaker. The location of Monday's ceremony was not announced in advance in an effort to minimize the risk of insurgents again disrupting a national celebration.

Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said more than 5,000 extra police had been drafted for what he described as the biggest operation of its kind in Kabul since 2001, when U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban government. He declined to discuss whether officials were worried that militants are now at the city's gates.

A lawmaker from Kandahar who is critical of Karzai's government said the police deployment has more to do with protecting the government's reputation than winning people's confidence.

"Unless they bring some comprehensive changes in the security, this deployment will not affect people's confidence," Khalid Pashtun said.

Pashtun said there has been a steady increase in kidnappings of Afghans, robberies and other criminal acts this year. "People are afraid to leave their house after 7 p.m.," he said.

Teams of police stopped vehicles at checkpoints around the city on Sunday. Kabul so far has been spared the drumbeat of violence that has afflicted other parts of the country, though it suffered spectacular bomb attacks this year against an international hotel and the Indian Embassy.