Taliban claims responsibility for Kandahar attacks; Karzai orders extra forces to secure Kandahar; Petraeus: US military faces a tough year ahead; Most US forces to operate under NATO command;
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    • The Taliban claimed responsibility for the previous weeks Kandahar attacks, with a Taliban spokesman stating that attacks were a warning to NATO. He added that the Taliban will now focus on securing Kandahar City and its approaches. More than 35 people were killed in coordinated attacks in Kandahar.1 Interior Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar told reporters that President Karzai has ordered extra forces to secure Kandahar after the recent series of attacks.2

    Gen. David Petraeus, US Centcom commander told the Senate Armed Services Committee that violence levels in Afghanistan were likely to be as high as the 2006 peak figures in Iraq. Petraeus noted that the recent offensive in Afghanistan's Helmand province was the beginning of a larger campaign which is “going to likely get harder before it gets easier." He added that since President Obama had set July 2011 as target for the start of a US drawdown in Afghanistan, the Afghan government had developed a sense of urgency in building up its own forces.3

    US military spokesman in Afghanistan stated that most US forces in Afghanistan will be under NATO command as part of an ongoing re-organisation which was ordered by Defence Secretary Gates. US forces serving in eastern Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom will soon be integrated into the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).4 NATO's top commander Gen. McChrystal also noted that most of US Special Operations forces in Afghanistan were under his direct command for the first time. The move was undertaken due to concerns over mounting civilian casualties as a result of military operations.5

    Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao on a visit to the US stated that Taliban is part of the "very negative presence" in Afghanistan. She urged the international community to be prepared for the "long haul and not try to find quick solutions to the problem" and added that India understood the Afghan society due to its centuries-old civilisational ties.6

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