Taliban likely to step up Afghan attacks

Pakistani troops jump from the patrolling vehicle upon arrival at Hayatabad near the Khyber tribal agency yesterday. Around 1,500 troops and police commandos were deployed along the Peshawar border with the Khyber tribal region and its suburbs to protect the north-western provincial capital from possible Taliban attack.Photo: AFP

The Taliban has regrouped after its initial fall from power in Afghanistan and the pace of its attacks is likely to increase this year, according to a Pentagon report that offers a dim view of progress in the nearly seven-year-old war.
Noting that insurgent violence has climbed, the report said that despite US and coalition efforts to capture and kill key leaders, the Taliban is likely to "maintain or even increase the scope and pace of its terrorist attacks and bombings in 2008."
The Taliban, it said, has "coalesced into a resilient insurgency."
At the same time, the Afghan Army and national police are progressing slowly and still lack the trainers they need.
The report was released Friday along with a separate plan for the development of Afghan security forces. They are the first two comprehensive Pentagon reports to evaluate progress in Afghanistan.
Vast problems corruption, the illegal poppy trade, human rights abuses and slow progress in reconstruction were detailed, as well as the struggle to train and equip the Afghan Army and police.