Kabul: US top military commander in Afghanistan feared that the Taliban would mount a spring campaign against US troops by using suicide bombing teams to strike at those associated with the coalition forces and Afghan government, according to a recent Washington Post report.
U.S. military commanders worry that they will not know for sure how they are doing until the spring. For several years, the insurgency has come back stronger after the winter rest, expanding its reach.
Lt. Gen. David M. Rodriguez, the No. 2 commander in Afghanistan, during a tour of two southern provinces last week said,  “He expects more Taliban attacks on “soft targets” such as the newly created village defense forces, as well as former insurgents who have switched sides, and anyone else who “supports our efforts.”
“We’re seeing the beginnings of that through these multiple suicide bombers trying to create a sensational attack that has far-reaching impact,” Rodriguez said, referring to a spate of recent bombings targeting hotels, banks and supermarkets. “It will take courage on the part of the Afghan people and Afghan leaders to lead their way through that, and we’re going to support them.”
Many in Afghanistan are skeptical about the progress cited by U.S. military commanders. The level of violence in the country, which usually dips during the winter, remains higher than in previous years. Rampant government corruption persists, undermining public support.
The report alleged the Pakistan to remain protect Taliban leadership in its country.
Rodriguez told Marines in Helmand and Nimruz provinces that their goal should be to provide a level of security that would allow Afghans to resume their normal lives. But he warned that the road ahead would not be easy and urged Marines to maintain realistic expectations.
“We’re never going to get rid of the insurgency in the next three years. We’re never going to finish off the criminal patronage networks,” Rodriguez said.
“We’re never going to get rid of the poor leadership totally, and we’re never going to get all the bad international practices fixed,” he added. “But we can decrease them all. We can control them.”
The Afghans have grown increasingly frustrated with the presence of foreign troops. The departing deputy head of the United Nations’ mission in Afghanistan, Robert Watkins, said last month that the insurgency has moved to new parts of the country and that security is “at its lowest point” since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001.
The beginning of the fighting season is also very crucial with a looming decision over how many U.S. troops should be pulled out of Afghanistan beginning in July.
Maj. Gen. Richard Mills, the Marine commander claimed in an interview that US troops have taken back violent areas such as Marja, Sangin and Gereshk, forcing insurgents to shift to nighttime intimidation and hit-and-run attacks and have taken control of all the major towns along the Helmand River valley, where 90 percent of residents live.
“There’s less and less ground, very little ground, that’s under contention, and there’s more and more of it that we control and really dominate,” Mills said in an interview. “We control all of the key population centers, every one of them along the river.”
But Mills, like other commanders, said he expects a Taliban resurgence in the spring aimed at taking back former strongholds, particularly the areas where the insurgents raised money through opium trafficking.
In eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military has been killing and capturing insurgents at record rates. Since June, the NATO coalition has killed, wounded or detained 5,200 suspected militants in eastern Afghanistan and eliminated 500 mid- to low-level insurgent leaders, said Maj. Gen. John F. Campbell, the region’s commander.
“I think we’ve thwarted or halted the momentum the enemy had, and I really think we’ve started to turn it the other way. I think we won’t know that until the spring,” Campbell said.
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