Violence increasing in Afghanistan
Suicide bombers bring new wave of terror, concerns about "re-Talibanization" of country.
In the latest of a series of deadly attacks in Afghanistan, a suicide bomber Monday rode a motorcycle into a crowd of wrestling fans, detonated a vest filled with explosives, and killed 20 people in the town of Spin Buldak, a key crossing point into Pakistan. The attack was the third in two days in the province, a former stronghold of the Taliban. The
Los Angeles Times reports there have been
about 25 suicide bombings in the country in the past four months.
The
CBC reports that a senior Canadian diplomat in Afghanistan was
killed by a suicide bomber in an attack Sunday in the same city. The attack also killed two Afghans and left three Canadian soldiers seriously wounded. While Canada has not contributed troops for the war in Iraq, Canadian forces have been serving in Afghanistan since 2002. Currently there are 650 Canadian troops stationed in Kandahar, but that contingent will increase in February to 2,200.
Lt. Col. Steve Borland, the Canadian deputy commander of the Kandahar force, said that contrary to previous years, there has been "no winter lull" in violence.
"There are a number of threats that we have exposed here in the form of improvised explosive devices that can be delivered by people, by vehicles remotely. There's any number of threats that we face every day here."
Many of the violent attacks have been claimed by Taliban militants, who have been fighting since the Taliban government was ousted by US-led coalition troops in 2001.
The Independent reports that
this new wave of suicide bombings and the general rise in violence across the country have been described as the "re-Talibanization" of Afghanistan.
The new Taliban are deploying tactics that have torn Iraq to shreds, and Afghanistan is seeing a surge in the previously unknown practice of suicide bombings – 25 in four months. This is seen as the reintroduction of Al Qa'ida into Afghanistan – a devastating example of how over-extending the "war on terror" into Iraq is rebounding on the West with vengeance.
US military commanders in Afghanistan, however, have downplayed these fears before the past weekend's violence, saying that there is no certainty that the Taliban or Al Qaeda is regrouping in Afghanistan.
The Washington Post reports that the surge in violence comes as the US plans to
hand off control of security in the volatile southern sector of the country to NATO troops, and just weeks before an international conference where countries will "weight their commitment to Afghanistan." It also coincides with a new push by coalition troops to pursue Al Qaeda and Taliban members in the lawless tribal region of neighboring Pakistan.
Reuters reports that NATO is now
considering a "Plan B" to continue expansion of its forces if the Netherlands decides not to take part, according to diplomats in Brussels. The Dutch parliament is still considering whether to send an additional 1,200 troops to the area. The death of the Canadian diplomat on Sunday "will not help Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende convince sceptics in his coalition to back sending Dutch troops who would be a key part of the NATO force."
Originally, plans had called for NATO troops to increase their presence in the south from 9,000 to 15,000, with Canada, Britain, and the Netherlands making up the bulk of the new troops. But NATO officials worry that if the expansion of forces is delayed, it will affect the alliance's credibility as a security force and "and would be seen as a victory for the Taliban insurgents."
Unlike Iraq, where the American presence is viewed negatively by a majority of the inhabitants, an overwhelming majority of Afghans view
the American presence in a positive light, according to a recent survey by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland.
However the
Pak Tribune, a Pakistani online news site based in Islamabad, reports that the US decision to
withdraw some of its troops, combined with this year's reduction of aid to Afghanistan from $1 billion to $600 million, has rekindled fears in the country that once again the West will "leave Afghanistan to the mercy of local powers."
The statements about troop drawdowns and reduced economic assistance to Afghanistan could hardly come at a worse time. The new Afghan parliament – the first in over 30 years – is not yet fully functional; the drug trade continues; the Afghan national army is still in its early development (only about 27,000 troops are trained so far); disarmament is far from complete; and, worst of all, the insurgency is growing deadlier as suicide bombings increase. Canada's
National Post reports that President Hamid Karzai has urged the world
not to abandon his embattled country.
"We are in a joint struggle against terrorism, for us and for the international community," he said from his fortified palace in the capital, Kabul. "If you don't defend yourself here, you will have to defend yourself back home in European capitals and American capitals."
Also...
•
Al Jazeera asks to see Bush 'bombing' transcript (Guardian)
•
God versus the state: What American conservatives need to know about Europe (Der Spiegel)
•
Two groups planning to sue over Federal eavesdropping (New York Times)
• Feedback appreciated. E-mail
Tom Regan
|
RSS feed