Taliban, NATO tied in fight for foothold in Afghanistan

CANADA: Half of 17,000 men surveyed in April in Afghanistan “chillingly” said they believe the Taliban will triumph against NATO forces, a think tank said in a report Monday.

As well, 80 percent said they are preoccupied with trying to feed their families, according to the poll by Paris-based The Senlis Council.

The Taliban’s “very clever propaganda” tells young Afghan men that the NATO alliance does not care about them, and is only concerned about waging their own war, explained Norine MacDonald, founder and lead field researcher for the group.

Indeed, Afghans are “worse off (now) than under Taliban” rule, she said at the opening of The Senlis Council’s Canadian office in Ottawa. “The Afghan people, five years after the international community has come to Afghanistan, despite our best intentions, are suffering,” she told reporters.

Southern Afghanistan is facing serious food shortages which could play into the hands of the country’s hard-line former leaders the Taliban, she said.

As well, growing civilian injuries caused by NATO-Taliban fighting, and a US-led poppy eradication program has fueled villagers’ frustration with NATO forces.

In a critical report, the think tank said the situation is “undermining military efforts” in Afghanistan.

The organization, an international policy group with offices in London, Paris, Brussels and Kabul, based its research on testimony from Afghans and had videos showing injured civilians with no healthcare and dozens of refugee camps in Kandahar province where Afghans line up for food scraps.

Ottawa, Tuesday, AFP.