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| Afghanistan |
| Taliban increasing Afghan presence |
| 2006-05-03 |
| Building on a winter campaign of suicide bombings and assassinations and the knowledge that U.S. troops are leaving, the Taliban appear to be moving their insurgency into a new phase, flooding the rural areas of southern Afghanistan with weapons and men. Each spring with the arrival of warmer weather, the fighting season here starts up, but the scale of the militants' presence and their sheer brazenness have alarmed Afghans and foreign officials far more than in previous years. "The Taliban and al-Qaida are everywhere," shopkeeper Haji Saifullah told the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, as he strolled through the bazaar of this town to talk to people. "It is all right in the city, but if you go outside the city, they are everywhere and the people have to support them. They have no choice." The fact that U.S. troops are pulling out of southern Afghanistan in the coming months and handing matters over to NATO peacekeepers, who have repeatedly stated that they are not going to fight terrorists, has given a boost to the insurgents, and increased the fears of Afghans. Eikenberry appealed for patience and support. "There has not been enough attention paid to Uruzgan," he said in a speech to the elders of Uruzgan province gathered at the governor's house in Tirin Kot, the provincial capital. "There is reform coming, and this year you will see it." The arrival of large numbers of Taliban in the villages, flush with money and weapons, has dealt a blow to public confidence in the Afghan government, already undermined by lack of tangible progress and frustration with corrupt and ineffective leaders. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Remove the roach motels, the roaches return. |
| Posted by: Perfessor 2006-05-03 08:15 |