KABUL: The Taleban have advanced out of traditional strongholds in Afghanistan’s south and east, gaining momentum as they moved into the north and west, the top US and NATO commander said in an interview on Monday.
US Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who will soon present an assessment of the war, said the resurgent Taleban have forced a change of tactics on foreign forces and warned that record casualty figures would remain high for some months.
“It’s a very aggressive enemy right now,” McChrystal told The Wall Street Journal newspaper (http://online.wsj.com/) in an interview in Kabul. “We’ve got to stop their momentum, stop their initiative. It’s hard work.”
Violence across Afghanistan this year had already reached its worst levels since the Taleban were ousted by US-led Afghan forces in 2001 and escalated dramatically after major offensives were launched in southern Helmand province in July.
Attacks have also become increasingly brazen, with suicide bombers and gunmen attacking government buildings and Afghan and foreign military targets in the east and south.
With thousands of US Marines and British soldiers aiming to push Taleban fighters out of populated areas in Helmand, July quickly became the war’s deadliest month for foreign troops.
At least 41 US troops were killed, easily surpassing the previous highest monthly toll of 26 in September last year. At least 71 foreign troops in total were killed in July.
The Journal said McChrystal’s remarks showed he believed the Taleban were “winning” and had gained “the upper hand,” but McChrystal’s aides said the paper overstated the general’s views, and he believed the insurgents had difficulties of their own.
“He did say that NATO forces are facing an aggressive enemy employing complex tactics, but during the course of the interview he also observed that insurgents in Afghanistan face their own problems in terms of popularity, cohesiveness and ability to sustain morale and fighting capacity,” said McChrystal’s spokesman, Lt. Col. Edward Sholtis.
