Taliban to intensify insurgency, says Pentagon

The deteriorating military situation in Afghanistan was underlined last night with the release of a Pentagon report which warned that the Taliban have regrouped and are poised to step up their attacks in the coming year. The detailed study and a second report about the Afghan army and police made grim reading for US military planners, who are facing rising demands and casualties. The number of US deaths in Afghanistan stands at 527 since 2001. The defence department report said that the Taliban had "coalesced into a resilient insurgency" and were potentially able to step up their bombing campaign this year. The main area of increased activity was in the south of the country, though eastern Afghanistan had also deteriorated into a plethora of smaller insurgencies involving al-Qaida and Afghan warlords, the report said. Coupled... [read full story]