Following a 20-hour attack by Taliban insurgents on NATO's diplomatic enclave and the U.S. embassy in Kabul, a second front erupted on the social web.
The dialogue began when @ISAFmedia -- the Twitter handle of the international security and assistance forces in Kabul -- asked how much longer terrorists will harm the lives of innocent Afghans. @ISAFmedia generally tweets dry military updates.
This uncharacteristically provocative inquiry spurred a response from @ABalkhi -- the handle of Abdulqahar Balkhi or the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Taliban's name for the country -- in textspeak. The shorthand is ironic considering the Taliban's infamous aversion to modern technology. @ABalkhi referred to Afghan army troops as puppets and NATO soldiers as invaders.
Responding with statistics, @ISAFmedia tweeted a link to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan's 2011 midyear report, which blames the insurgents for 80% of civilian deaths.
The Taliban dismissed the numbers as the source is associated with the NATO forces.
This stopped discussion for a while, although @ISAFmedia later tweeted @alemarahweb -- the official website of the Taliban's leadership -- with a video of General John Allen, commander of the NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, visiting the troops following the 20 hours of violence.
The video below, included in the @ISAFmedia tweet, shows General Allen shaking hands with troops in Kabul.
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