US faces worsening military situation in Afghanistan

Underlying the discussion is the worsening military situation facing the 100,000-strong occupation force. It does not have sufficient manpower to prevent a resurgent Taliban operating with relative impunity across much of the country. The insurgency has spread from the southern provinces that border Pakistan to the capital Kabul and northern provinces. The Bagram and Kandahar airbases are being targeted with rockets and mortars on a regular basis.

Vehicles operating on a key supply route into northern Afghanistan from Central Asia are now coming under attack. Insurgents captured and burned two fuel-laden trucks yesterday on the outskirts of the northern city of Kunduz—the same area where German troops called in air strikes on captured fuel tankers on September 4, resulting in scores of civilian deaths.

For perhaps the first time in the eight-year conflict, the Taliban will be able to continue intense guerilla attacks on the occupation forces during the harsh Afghan winter. Insurgent cells are now established in most of the major cities.

October has begun with the death of four occupation troops. Two American soldiers died Friday when a vehicle convoy was attacked by a suicide bomber. Another was killed in the eastern region of Afghanistan in an ambush. In the south of the country, a British soldier died in a blast from an improvised explosive device (IED).

So far this year, 384 US and NATO troops have died in Afghanistan, pushing the total death toll in the war to 1,429—856 American, 219 British, 131 Canadian and 223 from other countries.

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