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Taliban on the rise in southern Afghanistan
Taliban militants and their allies have launched an intensified campaign against thousands of NATO troops deploying to southern Afghanistan, where the multinational force is taking over from U.S. soldiers.Whether ambushing Afghan police from mountain passes or detonating bombs on lonely highways, remnants of the ousted Islamic regime have stepped up attacks, causing havoc and insecurity across a cluster of provinces. Military officials and analysts said yesterday the Taliban threat is the No. 1 challenge facing more than 7,000 U.S., Canadian, British and Dutch troops who by September will be fighting under the NATO flag in four southern provinces. "This is counterinsurgency warfare (and) there will be casualties on both sides," said British Col. Chris Vernon, chief of staff for NATO forces operating in southern Afghanistan. "This is not the north or west of the country. This is a counterinsurgency war zone." Taliban chiefs like Mullah Omar hail from southern Afghanistan. Its deserts and mountain ranges provide good cover for militants hiding or planning for attacks. Protecting opium poppy fields -- and the illicit funds they earn -- is another reason to fight. Mountains running through the northern districts of neighboring Helmand and Kandahar provinces, and Zabul and Uruzgan to the north offer sanctuaries for militants, Vernon said. The porous Pakistani border runs along the southern and eastern edge of the provinces, providing another base where militants replenish funds and weapons before sneaking back in to launch attacks. Ordinary Afghans and foreign analysts are critical that militants can still pose such a threat, more than four years after the late-2001 U.S.-led invasion that ousted the Taliban government for harboring Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda terrorists, blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks. "The situation would have been a lot easier if we got troops down there four years ago," said Joanna Nathan, the Kabul-based senior analyst for the International Crisis Group. "Security has gotten much worse. Four years ago they would have been welcomed, but things have been allowed to fester." Posted by: Dan Darling 2006-05-04 |
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