Taliban now active in 33 of 34 Afghan provinces: Aid bodies

KABUL - Four years ago, the Taliban was active in only four provinces of Afghanistan, but today, they are active in 33 of the country’s 34 provinces, aid organizations say.

Large parts of the country that were once completely safe, like most of the northern provinces, now have a substantial Taliban presence, even in areas where there are few Pashtuns, who previously were the Taliban’s only supporters.

With NATO forces poured in and shifted to the south to battle the Taliban in their stronghold, the Taliban has responded with a surge of their own, greatly increasing their activities in the north and parts of the east, the New York Times reports.

The worsening security situation is reflected in the fact that unarmed government employees can no longer travel safely in 30 percent of the country’s 368 districts, some of which are deemed too dangerous to even visit.

The number of insurgent attacks has increased significantly. In August 2009, insurgents carried out 630 attacks. A year later, the number of attacks has more than doubled-at least 1,353, according to the Afghan N.G.O. Safety Office, an independent organization financed by Western governments and agencies to monitor safety for aid workers.

Requests for access to information on the number of Taliban-related attacks have been denied.

American military officials say the increased level of violence is related to the rise in the number of its forces here.

The last 2,000 of 30,000 new American troops are expected to arrive in the next week or two, military officials say.

The result is more military operations, they say, and more opportunities for the insurgents to attack coalition forces.

While how many fighters the insurgents have is a matter of estimate and conjecture, the impact they have had is easy enough to judge. (ANI)