Word: talibans
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...Soviet-backed government. Now Waris and Ahmad live together on a military base in Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar, hard against the Pakistan border. They often stay up late talking about guerrilla tactics of the past and how to use them against their new, shared adversary: the Taliban. "If we are strong, no enemy will be able to infiltrate our villages. If the enemy cannot attack the army from villages, then they will have to fight from the open, where they can be defeated easily. And if fighting is in the open areas, civilians will not be at risk...
...groundwork for a National Afghan Air Corps by December 2008. But building a strong army in the middle of a war is a difficult undertaking. Much of the Afghan corps is young, illiterate and prone to desertion. Few units are judged capable of fighting the resurgent Taliban on their...
...casualties by foreign forces--it's just like Baghdad before everything started going downhill," says a Western official who has spent time in both countries. Because of a shortage of ground troops, the U.S. and NATO have relied on heavy and imprecise air strikes and artillery fire against the Taliban. Afghan forces, on the other hand, understand local culture and can live within communities, gathering intelligence and establishing security. "Every Afghan soldier that can fight effectively reduces U.S. boots on the ground, earns critical support from Afghans and has the potential to reduce collateral damage," says U.S. Ambassador William Wood...
...good, since the job of an ANA soldier is one of the most dangerous in Afghanistan. The dark khaki camouflage uniform, a gift from the U.S. government, may as well be a beacon for insurgent attacks. Several hundred ANA forces have died in combat since 2003, and a Taliban directive has decreed that ANA soldiers are infidels for their affiliation with the foreign forces. Insurgents prefer to target Afghan forces rather than NATO, knowing that the poorly prepared troops rarely drive armored vehicles and that they lack sufficient retaliatory firepower to mount a counteroffensive. The rising military death toll...
...forces inside Iraq - despite limited evidence to back the claim - and accuse it of destabilizing the Iraqi government by supporting radical Shi'ite militia. The Administration also insists that Iran has been working to destabilize the Karzai government in Afghanistan, and accuses it of funneling weapons to the Taliban...