Violence Flares Anew in Southern Afghanistan

[tekisui]

Source: New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — Violence has flared in southern Afghanistan, disrupting a long period of relative quiet since the arrival of large numbers of American troops.

In the Sangin District of Helmand Province, United States Marines who took over from British troops are finding it hard going, with a heavier casualty rate in their first 90 days than the British suffered in more than three years there. Elsewhere in the province, a roadside bomb killed 15 civilians on Friday.

And in Kandahar City, the Taliban assassinated two officials on Wednesday and Thursday, according to Afghan officials.

Progress in Kandahar and Helmand Provinces had been cited recently by the NATO commander, Gen. David H. Petraeus, and was expected to figure in a White House review of the war due this week.

While the assassinations and bombing may turn out to be isolated events, the problems in Sangin — a restive region that the British had trouble subduing — have been more sustained.

Since taking over on Sept. 20, American forces, mostly Marines, have suffered 42 fatalities in Helmand Province, according to icasualties.org, an independent Web site that compiles battlefield data. About 20 of those deaths took place in Sangin, said Maj. Gabrielle M. Chapin, a spokeswoman for the Marines. By comparison, the British lost at least 76 soldiers in three and a half years.

United States State Department cables made public by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks and posted by the British newspaper The Guardian showed that American military officers and Afghan officials were highly critical of the British effort in Helmand and particularly in Sangin.

more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/world/asia/12afghan.html

[spanone]

1. and the war without end rolls on......9 years and counting

[Jeffersons Ghost]

3. "rolls on" the US economy, as it creates more terrorists...

It's also expensive in lives lost.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. We lost. Get out. Get over it.

[Angry Dragon]

4. Time for all the people for the war to go over there

You would see the war closed down tomorrow