Afghanistan violence rises, weakening Karzai government

Violence in Afghanistan is increasing, according to recent announcements by senior US and NATO officials. Analysts estimate that this has been the bloodiest spring since the start of the insurgency and that the increasing instability is fueling the call to deploy more troops to the region.

Across the country this week, violence flared. Suicide bombers attacked international soldiers in Kabul today, reports the Associated Press.

The attack targeted two armored SUVs, causing minor damage to the vehicles. None of the soldiers inside the vehicles was wounded or killed, said Lt. Col. David Johnson, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition. He did not immediately know the nationalities of the troops.

U.S. troops from a base on the outskirts of Kabul cordoned off the area shortly after the attack.

The blast killed three Afghans and wounded four, said Mohammad Aslam, a police officer at the scene. Small shops line the road, and pedestrians frequently walk alongside the busy route.

On Tuesday at least 24 people were killed in different attacks across the country. The global financial news agency RTT reports that a bomb blast killed eight civilians traveling on a bus in western Afghanistan and a bomb killed three children in Kandahar Province.

...US-led forces in the southern province of Helmand claimed to have killed several militants during an operation in Garmser district on Tuesday.

The U.S.-led coalition also said that "several militants were killed and nine were detained" on Tuesday in an operation targeting "anti-government operations" in the eastern province of Paktia.

More than 1,200 people have been killed this year, the Associated Press estimates. NATO officials claim that the surge in violence is related in part to the recent peace deals between the Pakistani government and the rebels in that country, which allow for a haven for Taliban fighters who cross the border to launch attacks in Afghanistan.

NATO spokesman Mark Laity said militant violence in Afghanistan seems to be getting worse as Pakistan pursues peace with militants in an effort to end a wave of bombings that have killed hundreds of Pakistanis in recent years.

"We understand their desire to come to peace agreements with militants, but there is no real solution if trouble on one side of the (border) is merely transferred to the other side," he said.

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