Afghan militants ramp up suicide strikes
A recent wave of deadly Afghan suicide attacks with mass civilian
casualties shows that insurgents waging a war now in its tenth year are
resorting to bombing "soft" targets, officials and experts say.
In the last three weeks more than 100 people, most of them innocent
bystanders, have died in six suicide attacks. The government, Nato and a
top US official say the apparent new tactic is proof the militants are
running scared.
But not everyone agrees.
![](z_Glo-p21-Afghan.jpg)
US Marines from the First Battalion Eighth Marines Alpha Company
patrol through the town of Kunjak in southern Afghanistan’s
Helmand province February 21, 201. Reuters |
On Monday, a suicide attack killed 31 people at a government office
in the north, while on Saturday the troubled country witnessed its
deadliest attack since June when 38 died at a bank in Jalalabad, eastern
Afghanistan.
The capital Kabul has also been hit with high-profile attacks,
including on a supermarket popular with Westerners and a shopping mall,
leading to security on the streets being stepped up in recent days.
Experts say going after such "soft" targets signals a change from the
past few months, when the Taliban focused its campaign on roadside
bombs, firefights with foreign troops and some suicide bombings on
security targets.
Government officials insist the change is a sign of military progress
against the Taliban in the wake of US President Barack Obama's surge
strategy.
"A change of tactic is very obvious," said Zemarai Bashary, a
spokesman for the interior ministry.
"Since they cannot be successful targeting military
institutions...they resort to attacks on civilian targets, soft
targets." Bashary insisted that the number of non-suicide attacks
countrywide had meanwhile decreased.
The US Ambassador to Kabul, Karl Eikenberry, said the "terrorist
attacks in a way represents gains that we are making in our classic
counter-insurgency operations out in the field".
But other experts argue that the Islamists could be "baring their
teeth" as a warning ahead of expected offensives by international forces
in the spring.
The Taliban, frequently shy of admitting to killing civilians, denied
it was now focusing on citizens.
The rebels' spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the recent peak in
activity was related to better weather, which allowed its fighters to
operate more freely following winter snow. "Our country has been invaded
and we do all we can to keep attacking the enemy," he told AFP.
The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is due to
start limited withdrawals in safer parts of Afghanistan in July ahead of
an expected transition to Afghan-led security in 2014, allowing most
foreign troops to return home.
Tens of thousands of Nato and Afghan security forces pushed into
Taliban heartlands in southern Afghanistan in major operations during
2010, nine years after a US-led invasion ousted the Taliban from power.
Military commanders say the hunt will continue this year to
completely root out the rebels from safe havens.
"The insurgency obviously tends now to target soft targets, in other
words civilians," ISAF spokesman Brigadier General Josef Blotz said.
He added that such tactics were "a kind of weakness of an enemy who
obviously cannot confront the Afghan national security forces and ISAF".
Analyst with Afghanistan's Centre for Research and Policy Studies
Haroun Mir said the recent violence represented a show of strength by
the Islamic rebels ahead of a planned spring offensive.
"The Taliban are maybe baring their teeth," he told AFP.
"Over the last several months we haven't had any major attacks in
Kabul. These days all of a sudden we see an increase." But he said the
nature and location of attacks may indicate the involvement of
insurgents other than the Taliban - such as the militant Haqqani network
and al Qaeda members believed to be based in neighbouring Pakistan.
"The Quetta shura Taliban...have less access to Kabul, in fact most
attacks in Kabul have been by the Haqqani network who are closer (in the
east)," he added.
Others said the change in tactics towards high-impact attacks could
be a way for the Taliban to try and increase recruitment ahead of the
fighting season, which is expected to start in earnest around April or
May.
Another analyst, Waheed Mujda, said the attacks were part of a
Taliban strategy to "keep the idea of war alive as they would need to
come back after winter and recruit new fighters for their spring
campaign."
AFP |