Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Post
March 16, 2009
Pg. 8
U.S. Forces Are Likely To Face More Attacks
By Fisnik Abrashi, Associated Press
KABUL, March 15 -- A roadside bomb killed four American soldiers in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday -- new evidence of rising violence in a region where clashes and attacks in the first two months of 2009 more than doubled from the same period a year ago.
The spike in violence along the border is an early indication that roadside bombs and other ambushes are likely to surge as thousands of new U.S. forces arrive in Afghanistan this year.
Brig. Gen. Richard Blanchette, a spokesman for the NATO-led force here, confirmed that a roadside bomb killed four U.S. troops in the east. A U.S. statement indicated the troops were based in Jalalabad.
A suicide bomber, meanwhile, attacked a NATO convoy in Kabul, the capital, on Sunday but instead killed two passersby -- among a total of 18 people killed Sunday, officials said.
Clashes and attacks in the eastern province of Kunar surged 131 percent in January and February over the same period in 2008, said Lt. Col. Rumi Nielson-Green, a U.S. spokeswoman.
Bomb and gunfire attacks are up in part because 700 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division were deployed to Kunar in early January, putting more troops in harm's way.
Kunar's rise in violence is probably indicative of what the 17,000 U.S. troops that President Obama has ordered to Afghanistan will face later this year. In an attempt to reverse Taliban gains, the troops will move into areas of the country where few other foreign or Afghan soldiers have held a long-term presence.
Many of those areas are likely to have conditions similar to Kunar, where "the enemy that has a traditional hold in the area are deeply entrenched with the population," Nielson-Green said.
The 10th Mountain Division troops moved into Kunar, near the porous border with Pakistan, while the Pakistani military was conducting a six-month offensive against militants in its Bajaur tribal area, which has been an important haven for insurgents.
Bajaur is a rumored hiding place for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and Pakistan's offensive there earned praise from American officials concerned that fighters were using the area as a base from which to plan attacks in Afghanistan.
Last week, Pakistan signed a peace deal with the Mamund tribe after claiming victory in its fight. The tribe controls a large swath of Bajaur, and its ranks have yielded many Taliban leaders. The tribe, whose members straddle the Afghan-Pakistan border, has agreed to stop sheltering foreign fighters and to hand over local Taliban leaders.
But while Pakistan has seen success in Bajaur, violence has more than doubled across the border in Kunar.
Nielson-Green acknowledged that violence is rising in part because more fighters crossed the border to escape Pakistan's military offensive. But the main reason, she said, was the influx of U.S. troops.
Many of the recent attacks, she said, have been relatively ineffective mortar, rocket or machine-gun assaults.
Insurgents still "enjoy safe haven and support," in other tribal areas in Pakistan, Nielson-Green said.
Gen. Abdul Jalal Jalal, the Kunar provincial police chief, said he is concerned that ongoing peace talks between Pakistani Taliban leaders and Pakistan's government could be used by the insurgents as a chance to cross the border and increase their attacks in Afghanistan.
March 16, 2009
Pg. 8
U.S. Forces Are Likely To Face More Attacks
By Fisnik Abrashi, Associated Press
KABUL, March 15 -- A roadside bomb killed four American soldiers in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday -- new evidence of rising violence in a region where clashes and attacks in the first two months of 2009 more than doubled from the same period a year ago.
The spike in violence along the border is an early indication that roadside bombs and other ambushes are likely to surge as thousands of new U.S. forces arrive in Afghanistan this year.
Brig. Gen. Richard Blanchette, a spokesman for the NATO-led force here, confirmed that a roadside bomb killed four U.S. troops in the east. A U.S. statement indicated the troops were based in Jalalabad.
A suicide bomber, meanwhile, attacked a NATO convoy in Kabul, the capital, on Sunday but instead killed two passersby -- among a total of 18 people killed Sunday, officials said.
Clashes and attacks in the eastern province of Kunar surged 131 percent in January and February over the same period in 2008, said Lt. Col. Rumi Nielson-Green, a U.S. spokeswoman.
Bomb and gunfire attacks are up in part because 700 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division were deployed to Kunar in early January, putting more troops in harm's way.
Kunar's rise in violence is probably indicative of what the 17,000 U.S. troops that President Obama has ordered to Afghanistan will face later this year. In an attempt to reverse Taliban gains, the troops will move into areas of the country where few other foreign or Afghan soldiers have held a long-term presence.
Many of those areas are likely to have conditions similar to Kunar, where "the enemy that has a traditional hold in the area are deeply entrenched with the population," Nielson-Green said.
The 10th Mountain Division troops moved into Kunar, near the porous border with Pakistan, while the Pakistani military was conducting a six-month offensive against militants in its Bajaur tribal area, which has been an important haven for insurgents.
Bajaur is a rumored hiding place for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and Pakistan's offensive there earned praise from American officials concerned that fighters were using the area as a base from which to plan attacks in Afghanistan.
Last week, Pakistan signed a peace deal with the Mamund tribe after claiming victory in its fight. The tribe controls a large swath of Bajaur, and its ranks have yielded many Taliban leaders. The tribe, whose members straddle the Afghan-Pakistan border, has agreed to stop sheltering foreign fighters and to hand over local Taliban leaders.
But while Pakistan has seen success in Bajaur, violence has more than doubled across the border in Kunar.
Nielson-Green acknowledged that violence is rising in part because more fighters crossed the border to escape Pakistan's military offensive. But the main reason, she said, was the influx of U.S. troops.
Many of the recent attacks, she said, have been relatively ineffective mortar, rocket or machine-gun assaults.
Insurgents still "enjoy safe haven and support," in other tribal areas in Pakistan, Nielson-Green said.
Gen. Abdul Jalal Jalal, the Kunar provincial police chief, said he is concerned that ongoing peace talks between Pakistani Taliban leaders and Pakistan's government could be used by the insurgents as a chance to cross the border and increase their attacks in Afghanistan.