Will Talibs Strike Back Soon?

Afghan guerrillas intensify their activities in Afghanistan

It is hard to say, whether Talibs will use the USA’s preoccupation with Iraq as an opportunity for starting the counter-offensive. At least, certain Talibs have already said that on several occasions, that they are going to start active military actions to retrieve their power. However, they only shot American army bases in Afghanistan several times so far. Moreover, it is not known, if they were shot by Talibs or someone else.

This way or other, Afghanistan-based guerrillas intensified their activities after the American administration launched the military campaign in Iraq. One may not say that Afghan terrorists became extremely active, although there is more news to report incidents at the moment. Guerrillas’ attacks of soldiers of governmental troops and army bases became more frequent. In return, the American administration started a large-scale operation in the mountainous north-eastern area of Afghanistan. Yet, it is hard to specify the scale of the operation. Probably, the American military command in Afghanistan is afraid of being accused of inaction.

Nevertheless, Talibs are intended to let everyone know of their existence. Mullah Dadula, some unknown Talib field commander, told the BBC that anti-American sentiments were growing in Afghanistan, so Talibs sensed an opportunity to act. As he added, Osama bin Laden had nothing to do about that, Dadula said that he did not know, where Bin Laden was staying. He just said that Mullah Omar was alive and free, that he was still the Talibs’ leader. The field commander also added that Talibs enjoyed the support of a lot of Afghan people again.

Of course, those words are not supposed to be treated seriously, taking into consideration the fact that they were said by some unknown field commander. Hamid Karzai’s government does not control the majority of the Afghan territory – that’s a fact. Only God know, what happens in those areas of the country that are not subjected to the governmental control. It is not excluded that Talibs are saving their energy for a counterstrike.

Vasily Bubnov PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov