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Civilians Suffering Continuous Militancy In AfghanistanBy ugeshji, Section Suicide Bombers  Afghan security officials inspect the bomb attack site in Kabul, Afghanistan, Feb. 1, 2009. A suicide attack on foreign forces convoy left four people injured in the southern outskirts of the Afghan capital on Sunday morning. The ongoing conflicts and Taliban-linked insurgency in Afghanistan often add to the suffering of poor Afghans and harm non-combatants as the latest suicide bombing in Afghan capital once again wounded four civilians on Sunday. In the latest wave of violence, a suicide bomber riding an explosive-laden car blew himself up next to a convoy of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Company village at 5th precinct, injuring four passersby. "One suicide bomber driving a car blew himself up near a convoy of international troops in the western outskirts of Kabul city injuring at least four," a police officer at the site of incident told Xinhua, but he refused to be named. There were no casualties on foreign troops, he said. This was the second suicide car blast in the capital city of Kabul since the beginning of 2009. The previous attack targeting German embassy outside the compound in mid January left four people, including one U.S. soldier and three civilians, dead and 22 others including five U.S. servicemen and 17 civilians injured. Source: news.xinhuanet.com Civilians suffering continuous militancy in Afghanistan Click on "Full Story" For More...
Moreover, two more suicide car bombing and blasts left over a dozen people, mostly civilians, dead and injured in the volatile southern Kandahar and Zabul provinces in January.
Taliban fighters have claimed responsibility for the above attacks, saying they have inflicted casualties on the troops. In their new tactics, such as the deadly suicide attacks and roadside bombings, the militants have challenged both the Afghan government troops and international troops as such attacks often claim the lives of civilians rather than the military, army officers said. "The biggest challenge laying ahead us is the civilian casualties as harming civilians discredits both the Afghan government and the international troops," Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi said last weekend at a press conference attended by NATO and the U.S. military. A few days earlier, Azimi also predicted more violence in 2009 than in 2008, saying "We predict 2009 would be a tough year in terms of conflict. We do not expect to have less violence this year than in 2008." However, the Defense Ministry was optimistic that the security forces would have more achievements and more successes against Taliban-led insurgents with the reinforcement of 30,000-strong U.S. troops in the current year. "We would be in a better position in 2009 as the strength of Afghanistan National Army (ANA) would increase from 80,000 in 2008to over 100,000 this year and the alliance would also send additional troops," Azimi said. Over 5,000 people, with some 2,000 of them civilians, had been killed in conflicts in 2008, while observers foresee more violence this year. To overcome the challenges and to stabilize security, the Pentagon announced late last month to send in additional 30,000 troops to the militancy-plagued Afghanistan and their deployment would begin this year. The hard-die Taliban fighters also say that deploying more troops would enable them to further hunt soldiers and inflict more casualties.
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