New strategy in Taliban's offensive

Kidnappings are the Taliban's new weapon of choice in Afghanistan.

from the April 11, 2007 edition

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To head off the Taliban's offensive, NATO and the International Security Assistance Force launched Operation Achilles in March, a maneuver that will eventually involve 4,500 NATO troops and 1,000 Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) in the country's volatile southern province of Helmand, a Taliban stronghold where Mastrogiacomo was kidnapped. It is the largest such combined operation to date, including firefights and air assaults, and resulted this month in NATO's retaking of the key town of Sangin in Helmand.

Kidnappings are nothing new to the war in Afghanistan. In the past, the Taliban showed a willingness to release captives, particularly foreigners, as long as they were proved not to be spies. But since 2005, Taliban militants have kidnapped and killed at least seven foreign hostages. Last month, they also killed Mastrogiacomo's driver, Saeed Nagha.

Just as they have gotten more brutal, so too have the Taliban become more clever: Mastrogiacomo's capture resulted, for the first time, in the public release of Taliban prisoners.

"There seems to be the assumption, which I would say is wrong, that [the Taliban] can speed up the collapse of NATO's resolve if they terrorize foreigners as much as possible," says noted Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid.

Polls show diminished support

It is a timely tactic, suggesting the Taliban's astute read of the political climates in NATO countries. Italy's response etched in the sharpest tones what a liability the war in Afghanistan has become for that government. It also ignited tensions within the NATO community, with the United States, Britain, and other allies condemning the deal as encouraging more kidnappings. Those critiques grew louder this week after Naqshbandi was murdered.

Not that cracks in resolve have actually appeared on the ground. Most NATO members have renewed their commitments to Afghanistan, and on Tuesday Australia announced it would double its troop size to 1,000. The US says it will send an extra 3,200 soldiers, and Britain another 1,400 soldiers.

But with more than 500 foreign troops dead and last year witnessing the highest death toll since the war began in 2001, the Taliban's new spate of kidnappings hopes to capitalize on public dismay throughout many of the states comprising the bulk of NATO's 36,000 troops.

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