AFGHANISTAN: A senior British officer accused Pakistan of allowing the Taliban to use its territory as a headquarters for attacks on western troops in Afghanistan as insurgents struck on multiple fronts yesterday.
In one of the worst 24-hour periods since they were ousted from power in 2001, the Taliban launched two suicide bombs, numerous firefights and a massive assault on a village in Helmand province.
The violence, which started on Wednesday night, caused 105 deaths, including 87 Taliban, 15 police, an American civilian and a Canadian woman soldier, according to the highest estimates.
Col Chris Vernon, chief of staff for southern Afghanistan, said the Taliban leadership was co-ordinating its campaign from the western Pakistani city of Quetta, near the Afghan border. "The thinking piece of the Taliban is out of Quetta in Pakistan. It's the major headquarters," he said. "They use it to run a series of networks in Afghanistan."
The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, echoed these comments by accusing Pakistan of arming the insurgents.
"Pakistani intelligence gives military training to people and then sends them to Afghanistan with logistics," the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency quoted him as saying.
Col Vernon said the Quetta leadership controlled "about 25" mid-level commanders across the south of Afghanistan, one of whom was captured last month. The unusually forthright criticism drew a furious denial from the Pakistani military.
"It is absolutely absurd that someone is talking like this. If the Taliban leadership was in Quetta we would be out of our minds not to arrest them," said a spokesman, Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan. "They should give us actionable intelligence so that we can take action."
The clash reflects growing tensions between Pakistan and the West as Nato prepares to assume command of southern Afghanistan from the US on July 31st.
About 7,000 troops from Britain, Canada and The Netherlands are deploying to Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces, while another 1,000 Americans and Romanians will be stationed in Zabul.
Kandahar has suffered the worst upheaval, much of it apparently aimed at unbalancing the Nato mission before it can settle down.
Canadian troops have been pummelled with a string of suicide attacks, roadside bombs and an axe attack on an officer during a village meeting.
On Wednesday, a suicide bomber rammed into a UN vehicle near the main coalition base at Kandahar airport, killing himself and injuring the driver.
Col Vernon said he had tightened security on the road after similar attacks in March by "imposing Northern Ireland procedures".
Having convulsed the volatile south, the guerrilla summer offensive now threatens the rest of the country.
Yesterday, suicide bombers struck in the normally peaceful cities of Herat in the west and Ghazni to the north, killing an Afghan motorcyclist and a US police trainer.
"This is the worst that things have been since the fall of the Taliban," said a western source in Kandahar.