Lessons learned writing from abroad

This is a draft of what I sent the Independent.
Link to the story they actually went with
The lesson, broader stories have scope to reference specifics. Specifics, particularly regularly repeated events, are subsidiary stories or hooks, but not stories in themselves. Also the relevance to the UK/US readership should be the focus. In their article it is the headline.Any other takes on this?


A suicide bomber killed at least 12 people and injured 42 this morning when he blew himself up near the interior ministry in Kabul.
Ministry workers were arriving for work opposite the Kabul Republic hospital just before 8am when the bomber attacked.
A man had aroused suspicions and was confronted by policemen just inside a checkpoint as he approached the Interior Ministry and a crowd of workers.
Before policemen could shoot, the bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body.
"It was a suicide attack. The bomber blew himself up as ministry employees were getting off a bus at the ministry gate," said Kabul's chief of criminal investigations Alishah Paktiawal.
A stream of ambulances took casualties to several hospitals throughout the city which, according to Mr Paktiawal made a definite tally of dead and wounded difficult to make.
After the 8 September bombing which killed two US soldiers and 14 civilians, US military sources announced they were aware of a terrorist cell operating within the city targeting US and international troops.
Residents however believe that there is more than a single cell. They say the terrorists pass through security nets because they can blend in with peaceful Afghans. Checks at access points to the city are arbitrarily policed, and a bribe can secure passage.
Along with a peak in military confrontations, this year has seen an increase in these types of attack. There have already been at least 50 compared to 21 last year.
The attack comes as NATO expands its sphere of operations to the whole of Afghanistan where the US has suggested that Pakistan's peace with tribal leaders has lead to increased attacks in this country.
At a meeting in Slovenia this week, it was agreed that NATO's ISAF force will take control of American troops in the east Afghanistan, unifying the command of all coalition troops within the country.
This step comes as attacks in some areas of eastern Afghanistan have tripled since President Musharraf negotiated a ceasefire two months ago with tribal leaders in North Waziristan. Under terms of the treaty, formally signed on 5 September, Pakistani army presence in the Pashtun areas will be reduced. In exchange the tribal leaders agreed to expel foreign fighters and gave assurances they would stop aggressive incursions across the porous border into Afghanistan.
The treaty designed to end 5 years of attacks on Pakistani army and installations in the area also included the release of thousands of prisoners held for suspected links to terrorist organisations.
Hamid Karzai and Pervez Musharraf met earlier in the week with George Bush. Accusations of blame for the regional instability had been cast back and forth, though while Karzai referred to his Pakistani counterpart as a friend, Musharraf blamed him for not being in control of his country.