Word: talibans
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...killed," says General Mohammed Sabir, commander of the Afghan Army brigade in Uruzgan. An Australian Defence spokesman refused to comment on incidents, operations or tactics, but said Australian troops take all reasonable steps to avoid endangering the lives of non-combatants. "It should be noted," the spokesman added, "that Taliban tactics routinely use human shields, intimidation and stand-over techniques which put the lives of civilians at risk." The ISAF pays compensation to the families of killed civilians; about $1,200 was paid out to survivors of the raid on the Daad house at Chenartu...
...Taliban's treatment of civilians is "ruthless," says Rietdijk. Lieutenant Colonel Groen agrees: "The Taliban use very indiscriminate and total violence," he says. "It's a way of getting support. You can buy support, you can convince people, or you can terrorize people into giving you support...
...ISAF and the U.N. Assistance Mission agree that the Taliban have little natural support among the people. But they do have money from the opium trade - worth around $600 million a year in Uruzgan alone. And they have growing help from foreigners - Muslims from Pakistan, Chechnya, and Uzbekistan. "In the beginning it was just a lot of local fighters who were forced or paid to fight," says Groen. "They would fire the odd round to show they were participating." But these days the ISAF faces "a different Taliban that is obviously better trained, better coordinated and more proficient with their...
...Afghan General Sabir has also noted an influx of foreigners. "It is a world-wide network," he says. Security officials in Kabul say Pakistan is a major source of fighters and funds, and name a former colonel of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency as a key figure behind the Taliban resurgence. Known as "Colonel Imam," he helped develop the Taliban in the 1990s, and the officials say he has been regularly sighted in Uruzgan. General Sabir says the Colonel made a lightning visit in October, urging the Taliban to keep up attacks through the winter and giving them "money...
Already blamed by Pakistan and the CIA for killing Benazir Bhutto, Baitullah Mehsud is just getting started. The articulate, baby-faced commander of the Tehrik-i-Taliban in Pakistan's tribal wilds along the Afghan border is waging an increasingly coordinated insurgency threatening further destabilization on the eve of parliamentary elections. His forces have embarrassed the Pakistani military in recent weeks by attacking its forts, inflicting heavy losses and seizing weapons before retreating into the mountains of South Waziristan, Mehsud's home turf...