Opposition says Afghanistan heading toward crisis

KABUL - Worsening security is pushing Afghanistan towards a crisis, the country's main opposition group said on Thursday, days after a deadly Taliban raid near the presidential palace.

Attacks by the al Qaeda-backed Taliban have dramatically jumped in the past two years in Afghanistan, the bloodiest period since U.S.-led troops overthrew the militants from power in 2001.

In the most brazen raid so far, several Taliban stormed a highly protected five-star hotel next to the presidential palace, killing seven foreign civilians and Afghan security guards in a combined suicide bomb and gun attack on Monday.

The National Front main opposition group, which includes a number of key current and ex-members of President Hamid Karzai's government, said the attack was a matter of great concern for the country where nearly 160,000 foreign and Afghan forces are trying to defeat the militants.

"If a serious move and serious decision is not adopted regarding the maintenance of the security situation in the country, we consider ... the outcome will be dangerous and warn the world that Afghanistan is on the verge of being drowned in a swamp which would be very difficult to sort out," said front spokesman Fazel Sangcharaki.

The front, formed last year, called for more coordination between foreign and Afghan forces.