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Afghanistan
Afghanistan seeks more help
2007-10-20
Afghanistan’s defence minister asked on Thursday for more money and equipment to fight soaring Taliban violence as America’s Pentagon chief criticized NATO allies for failing to deliver promised aid. Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said suicide bombings were up 50 percent from a year ago and that the Afghan army needed more troops and equipment. “We have achieved a great deal with limited manpower and old weapons and equipment,” Wardak said after meeting with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates at the Pentagon. “Imagine what we could do with better equipment and additional help.”

Despite six years of war in Afghanistan, the Taliban regained strength in 2006 and has ramped up attacks on US, Afghan and NATO forces this year.
The Talibs regaining strength in Afghanistan is a direct result of events in Wazoo and the FATA, across the border. They're increasingly obviously a Pak phenomenon, with nobody even bothering to pretend anymore. See, for example, this article today.
NATO forces also have begun to intercept convoys of bomb technology coming into Afghanistan from Iran, according to NATO and US military officials. Wardak called the past two years “the most difficult and challenging since 2001.” “The enemy has stepped up his activities, operating in smaller units over a wider geographic area, with heavy reliance on IED (improvised explosive devices) and suicide bombing,” he said.

That rising violence comes as NATO commanders say they still face shortages in troops, trainers, helicopters and other equipment needed to fight the war.
Posted by:Fred

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