KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban and al Qaeda militants will step up attacks as Afghanistan (news - web sites) heads for its first ever direct elections in September, the commander of U.S. forces in the country said Tuesday. The number of attacks on foreign and Afghan troops has already accelerated recently, as members of the ousted Taliban and its allies seek to disrupt a vote they dismiss as a "drama" designed to legitimize a U.S.-backed government in Kabul.
"We should be absolutely clear-eyed about the terrorists' aims," said Lieutenant-General David Barno.
"As the September elections approach, we can expect to see additional attempts by remnants of the Taliban and al Qaeda to disrupt and undermine Afghanistan's democratic process," he told a news briefing in Kabul.
Saturday, four members of a U.S. special operations unit were killed when their vehicle hit a land mine in the southern province of Zabul, one of the highest number of losses in one incident for U.S. troops in Afghanistan in more than two years.
On the same day in the southern province of Helmand, seven government soldiers and four suspected Taliban were killed after coordinated attacks on official targets. A senior police officer was killed by a bomb Tuesday in the city of Jalalabad.
~snip~
more:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=7&u=/nm/20040601/ts_nm/afghan_usa_attacks_dc
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
