Reports from Kandahar suggest that Taliban has wrested control of a host of rural areas along the provincial borders.
At the moment they are confined a few isolated, inaccessible, lawless mountain valleys but their power, military and political, is growing. Pashtun tribal leaders in Peshawar say the Taliban are preparing a major offensive in February for which thousands of men and armaments are being mobilized in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Last month, the resurgent Taliban began striking into the cities and against heavily armed coalition troops. Their efforts were once limited to hit-and-run attacks on far-flung government outposts or aid projects and the assassination of moderate clerics.
The Taliban are expanding fast. The highly alarming news is that the deputy governor of Zabul has admitted most of his province being now controlled by the militia. Most of Oruzgan province and around half of Kandahar province is now beyond the control of the Karzai Government.
The present number of Taliban is not clear but they might be draw a lot more on the basis of the general anger of Muslims against the war on terror. The days to come will be very critical for the future of the present Karzai administration. It looks to be seen if the people of Afghanistan are going to succumb to yet another round of violence and bloodshed.
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