Word: talibanism
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...Afghanistan are yet vague. However, the attack has potentially deep military consequences as well as political ramifications far away - in Germany. NATO said in a statement that Friday's airstrike targeted militants who had stolen two fuel tankers the day before. It said that most of those killed were Taliban. But Afghan authorities are saying that civilians who had flocked to collect free fuel at the behest of insurgents died among them - with an overall death toll estimated as high as 70. If true, it would be one of the deadliest attacks on civilians since Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander...
...that has grown more vital in light of threats to the normal route from Pakistan. Indeed, given that the tankers were just three miles from the German heaquarters when attacked, officials believe militants might have been readying to bomb the base. The circumstances of the attack thus highlight a Taliban offensive in the region that is brazenly challenging the resolve of German forces in charge of security - and a debate about the lack of consistency among the multinational coalition forces. (Read about the dramatic Sept. 2 assassination that was the Taliban...
Since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, Kunduz province and the region around it had stayed relatively quiet. A German Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) based just outside the eponymous provincial capital coordinated development efforts, building roads and bridges to upgrade infrastructure shattered by the war. The nature of their mission was reflected in rules of engagement: German troops were prohibited from shooting first. (See pictures from a battle in Afghanistan's Kunar province...
...attack them in the districts they now control or contest. More ominously, police in the area say that among the militant ranks are groups of foreign fighters - mostly from Uzbekistan - seeking to open another front against the coalition and the Kabul government, drawing forces away from fighting the Taliban in southern Afghanistan...
Laghmani's killing, which occurred in his own province, where he is a respected tribal elder, shows the alarming ease with which the Taliban is now punching through government's defenses despite intense efforts by NATO to train Afghan troops and police. The bombing that killed him horrified many Afghans; not only did it claim 21 other lives and leave more than 65 wounded, it occurred outside a mosque during the holy month of Ramadan. Taliban terrorism tactics kept many Afghan voters in the militants' southern strongholds away from the Aug. 20 elections, and the bombings continue across Afghanistan. With...