Afghanistan saw the worst militant attack since 2001 with a large Taliban force attacked Government forces in a small town in Halmand province leaving over 105 dead of which 40 were militants. Most of the rest are feared to be civilians.
Increased attacks by a resurgent Taliban in Halmand and Kandahar provinces has prompted the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to sanction more troops in those areas due to arrive shortly.
Afghanistan has been bitterly complaining about lax Pakistani efforts to curb Taliban who frequently retreat into the mountains in Pakistan where Government control is low. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has publicly chided Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf for his lack of commitment in fighting the terrorists. Recently, a senior US counter-terrorism said that
Pakistan needs to more to fight terrorism
while another insisted that Pakistan is the most important ally in the fight against terrorism.
Pakistan suffers from its own version of Taliban that is threatening to consume Pakistan [] even as it fights
subversives in Baloachistan.
