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Afghan Violence "Likely to Rise"    [

    Violence in Afghanistan Doubled in 2006: US Military
    Agence France-Presse

    Thursday 16 November 2006

    Insurgent violence in Afghanistan this year will likely double that of 2005 and will continue next year, the US military's top intelligence official told Congress.

    General Michael Maples, director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, said insurgents had expanded their abilities and operations even while incurring serious combat losses.

    "Despite having absorbed heavy combat losses in 2006, the insurgency has strengthened its capabilities and influence with its core base of Pashtun communities," he told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

    "Violence this year is likely to be twice as high as the violence level seen in 2005 ... In 2007, insurgents are likely to sustain their use of more visible, aggressive and lethal tactics," he said.

    Maples said the insurgents aimed to undermine the international community's support for Afghanistan military and reconstruction operations, and to demonstrate the Kabul government's weakness.

    The head of the Central Intelligence Agency, General Michael Hayden, in his testimony emphasized the need to continue supporting the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai.

    "Kabul needs help because it lacks capacity, not because it lacks political will or lacks support," Hayden said. "President Karzai understands this and recognizes his government's responsibility."

    Citing a recent conversation with the US ambassador in Kabul, Ron Neuman, Hayden said "the effort would take a long time - in my view, at least a decade - and cost many billions of dollars. I would add that the Afghan government won't be able to do it alone."

 

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    Afghan Violence "Likely to Rise"
    BBC News

    Thursday 16 November 2006

A top American defence official has warned that the level of violence in Afghanistan will go on rising.

    General Michael Maples said that insurgents had expanded their operations and abilities even while incurring serious combat losses.

    Gen Maples is head of the US Defence Intelligence Agency.

    More than 3,000 people have died in fighting in Afghanistan this year, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

    Gen Maples told a Congressional hearing that the insurgents in Afghanistan had strengthened their influence with their core base of Pasthun communities.

    "Violence this year is likely to be twice as high as the violence level seen in 2005. In 2007, insurgents are likely to sustain their use of more visible, aggressive and lethal tactics," he was quoted saying by the AFP news agency.

    The head of CIA, General Michael Hayden told the same hearing that the Afghan government needed help because it lacked capacity, and not because it lacked political will.

    Deteriorating

    "Kabul needs help because it lacks capacity, not because it lacks political will or lacks support," Gen Hayden said.

    "President Karzai understands this and recognises his government's responsibility."

    There has been a four-fold rise this year in the number of people killed in the conflict in Afghanistan, according to a report on the insurgency released on Monday.

    Separately, a US government study has warned that the prevalence of opium cultivation and drug trafficking in Afghanistan threatened the stability of the government.

    The report by the Government Accountability Office also warned that the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan could derail a US anti-drug programme.

    Afghanistan is the world's largest supplier of opium, and drug money is reportedly fuelling the insurgency.

    The report claimed that the Usaid's programme to eradicate drugs was making only limited progress - opium cultivation grew by 50% this year while staff attempting to eradicate drugs or administer alternative uses for land had been attacked and in some cases killed.