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UN chief: Security in Afghanistan not improved
A U.N. report released Saturday painted a grim picture of the security situation in Afghanistan, saying roadside bombings and assassinations have soared the first four months of the year amid ramped up military operations in the Taliban-dominated south.
The United Nations findings appeared at odds with Pentagon assertions this week claiming slow-but-steady progress in Afghanistan - an assessment challenged by U.S. lawmakers during hearings on Capitol Hill.
The report, which Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon submitted to the U.N. Security Council this week, said Afghanistans overall security situation "has not improved" since his last report in March.
Roadside bombings in the first four months of 2010 skyrocketed 94 percent over the same period of 2009, and assassinations of Afghan officials jumped 45 percent, mostly in the ethnic Pashtun south, which has become the focus of the war, the report said.
Suicide attacks occurred at a rate of about three per week, half in the restive south. The increase in complex attacks - using a combination of suicide bombers and small-arms fire - pointed to Taliban groups linked with al-Qaida, the report said.
The study found some encouraging signs, however, including the governments plan to reach out to insurgents and offer economic incentives to leave the battlefield. It also said the U.N. was working with Afghan officials to prepare for parliamentary elections in September.
Nevertheless, the U.N. found the number of security incidents had "increased significantly compared to previous years," in large part because of more military operations in the south early this year.
NATO spokesman Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz told reporters in the capital on Saturday despite negative assessments, the international force was making steady strides.
"Tough fighting is expected to continue, but the situation is trending in our favor as more forces flow into the area," Blotz said.
He said joint NATO and Afghan forces were stepping up the pace of identifying and killing those responsible for attacks. Insurgent commanders were being apprehended by coalition forces, which over time will disrupt the ability to organize suicide and roadside bomb attacks, he said.
"It has to be tougher perhaps before it goes easier," said Blotz.
The Island
A U.N. report released Saturday painted a grim picture of the security situation in Afghanistan, saying roadside bombings and assassinations have soared the first four months of the year amid ramped up military operations in the Taliban-dominated south.
The United Nations findings appeared at odds with Pentagon assertions this week claiming slow-but-steady progress in Afghanistan - an assessment challenged by U.S. lawmakers during hearings on Capitol Hill.
The report, which Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon submitted to the U.N. Security Council this week, said Afghanistans overall security situation "has not improved" since his last report in March.
Roadside bombings in the first four months of 2010 skyrocketed 94 percent over the same period of 2009, and assassinations of Afghan officials jumped 45 percent, mostly in the ethnic Pashtun south, which has become the focus of the war, the report said.
Suicide attacks occurred at a rate of about three per week, half in the restive south. The increase in complex attacks - using a combination of suicide bombers and small-arms fire - pointed to Taliban groups linked with al-Qaida, the report said.
The study found some encouraging signs, however, including the governments plan to reach out to insurgents and offer economic incentives to leave the battlefield. It also said the U.N. was working with Afghan officials to prepare for parliamentary elections in September.
Nevertheless, the U.N. found the number of security incidents had "increased significantly compared to previous years," in large part because of more military operations in the south early this year.
NATO spokesman Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz told reporters in the capital on Saturday despite negative assessments, the international force was making steady strides.
"Tough fighting is expected to continue, but the situation is trending in our favor as more forces flow into the area," Blotz said.
He said joint NATO and Afghan forces were stepping up the pace of identifying and killing those responsible for attacks. Insurgent commanders were being apprehended by coalition forces, which over time will disrupt the ability to organize suicide and roadside bomb attacks, he said.
"It has to be tougher perhaps before it goes easier," said Blotz.
The Island
