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Taliban trying to 'test' Nato
18/06/2006 21:49 - (SA)
Washington - Taliban forces are seeking to "test" Nato troops in areas of Afghanistan where they are taking over from the US military but have "overwhelmingly been losing," White House spokesperson Tony Snow said on Sunday.
The White House press secretary, in an interview on CNN's Late Edition, said the increased military activity by members of the former ruling Islamic militia was "predictable".
"I think what the Taliban is doing - and it's predictable - is they are trying to test in the south, where the US forces are handing over to Nato," Snow said.
"There's been a test."
"But A, it's predictable, and B, in the encounters, as you know, the Taliban fighters have overwhelmingly been losing," he said.
"It is predictable that the Taliban tries to assert itself in Afghanistan, and furthermore, as the government begins to expand beyond the boundaries of Kabul ... you can expect there to be pushback by the Taliban," he said. Air power
Snow confirmed reports that the United States had increased its use of air power in Afghanistan.
The Washington Post reported on Sunday that US airstrikes in Afghanistan had surged in the past three months, with the number of strikes double those in Iraq.
Citing the US military headquarters for the Middle East, the newspaper said Washington carried out 340 air strikes in Afghanistan in that time frame, "more than twice the 160 carried out in the much higher-profile war in Iraq".
The air strikes have been conducted with aircraft ranging from B-52 bombers to small Predator drones, the Post said.
The air strikes have coincided with Operation Mountain Thurst, the largest US offensive in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
The offensive includes Canadian and British forces that have been setting up in southern Afghanistan over the past few months ahead of Nato's takeover of command of the region.
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