Taliban vows response to troop increase

Taliban vows response to troop increase
By Fisnik Abrashi - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Dec 8, 2008 9:42:22 EST

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban’s fugitive leader said the planned increase in U.S. troops in Afghanistan will give his fighters incentive to kill and maim more Americans than ever.

Mullah Omar, who is believed to be sheltered by fiercely conservative tribesmen on the Afghan-Pakistan border, said battles would “flare up” everywhere.

“The current armed clashes, which now number into tens, will spiral up to hundred of armed clashes. Your current casualties of hundreds will jack up to thousand casualties of dead and injured,” said the statement, which was written in broken English and posted on a Web site Sunday that has previously carried militant messages.

Violence in Afghanistan has spiked in the last two years, and 2008 has been the deadliest year for U.S. troops since the 2001 invasion to oust the Taliban for hosting al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.

There are more than 60,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, including 32,000 U.S. forces. Though U.S. troop levels are already at their highest since the start of the conflict in 2001, American commanders have requested 20,000 more troops to stem the increase in violence that has engulfed parts of the country.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/12/ap_taliban_afghanistan_120808/%2e