Driven out of one area, taking over in another. From the BBC, with thanks to Mackie:
Taleban fighters have seized local government offices in Afghanistan's south-eastern province of Zabul.A local spokesman said police in Khan Afghan district had withdrawn because they did not have enough ammunition.
Meanwhile, in Helmand province the Taleban are reported to have been forced out of the town of Sangin by Nato and Afghan troops.
President Hamid Karzai says his government has been having meetings with the Taleban for "a long time".
In fresh violence on Friday, a suicide bomber has killed six people near parliament in the capital, Kabul.
Serious damage
The Taleban have been forced out of the town of Sangin in Helmand province, the governor of Helmand told the BBC.
Nato said it airlifted hundred of troops into the area earlier this week as part of Operation Achilles, aimed at "our long-term goal of providing the security conditions necessary to allow the government of Afghanistan to begin reconstruction and development in the area".
It says it has inflicted serious damage to the Taleban's infrastructure in the area.
If the Taliban is still attacking...then not enough damage has been inflicted....let's keep attacking....and attacking...and attacking...24/7
Islam's a cancer - no way to extirpate it easily or painlessly.
Do any readers here perchance know where the Taliban have been reported to be gaining strength in Pakistan? It's not a question of if the Pakis have been aiding them in regrouping-nobody who knows Pakistan doubts that. Also, I do recall something about their presence being strongly felt in provinces like NWFP and Balochistan, the latter due to the Pakis bringing them in agianst the wishes of local residents. Meanwhile, they're spending Western aid supposed to be used against the Taliban against civilians the more insurgency prone areas of the country.
So, does any one else have details about where in Pakistan the Taliban are liekly to be regrouping?
"So, does any one else have details about where in Pakistan the Taliban are liekly to be regrouping"
...just follow the trail of bodies....
Actually, the Taliban have not been having a good time in the Pashdun areas of Pakistan. These tribes are incredibly xenophobic and even though the Taliban/Al Qaeda are the worst strain of Islam, they are STILL foreigners/outsides and unwanted. Also take into account that the terrorists come from all parts of the ME and old Soviet Union and are also quite vicious when dealing with the locals, you can see a lot of trouble brewing for the Taliban/Al Qaeda gang.
Maybe the islamofascists’ propensity for self destructive actions, honor killings, killing for killing’s sake, etc will be what defeats them once and for all. The use of homicide bombs is also a losing tactic in Afghanistan (it does not work that well in Iraqi either) as the bombers tend to miss their target, but kill civilians. These Afghanis have lots of relatives who then go for blood against the islamofascists.
They are going on the offensive only because there is nothing to defend. If the Taliban/Al Qaeda make a stand, several B-52s and artillery pieces will pound them for hours before the troops go in. This is not like 2001 when only a few aircraft could reach the area. Dozens can now loiter for hours with a lot of infrastructure to support them. Even better, US/NATO attack helos (US/UK AH-64s and USMC AH-1s) can escort helos into and out of the area and provide support.
And I would bet that our politicians are just drooling over when we can send Pakistan our next welfare check to them. I think we need to take another look at why we 'honor' Musharaff's wishes to not enter Pakistan. We give them money - they don't stop the flood of muslim jihadists into Afghanistan - so we should just do what we have to do to stop it. And that means to stop giving them money, step over the border and just do what we need to do to take out the Taliban's holes in pakistan. Unfortunately, that whole country is a hole.
"step over the border and just do what we need to do to take out the Taliban's holes in pakistan."
What we should have done in 2001 is dump 100,000+ troops into Afghanistan, follow the taliban into Pakistan and meet the Indian army in the middle. Similar to the way we freed Eruope in the 1940's.
But since we are bogged down in Iraq, and the Iraqis aren't interested in anything less than civil war, maybe we should move our forces from Iraq into Afghanistan and then meet the Indian Army halfway. It just stands to reason that Al Qaeda will follow us to Pakistan, and leave the Iraqis (with a little help from Iran) to settle their differences.
And maybe with Iran knocking on the door, the Arabs will put up a few troops to defend the peninsula from the Persion Hordes, as opposed to letting us do the fighting while they supply the weapons and ammunition to the terrorists.
In military terms these attacks are exactly what NATO wants in the Taliban spring offensive.
Their offensive is 2 buildings. That is a yawn.
WHY do all the Western countries always have to give money to these waste-cases??!
I'd rather spend our money on guns'N'ammo and let 'em starve!
Then they'll get the drift that 'mitey alla' isn;t of any great help to them. They HAVE to get JOBS!
And no, 'imam' is not a real job.