Afghanistan is at a "tipping point" ahead of an expected Taliban
spring offensive, a think tank report warned yesterday as President
Hamid Karzai was due for talks in London.
The Senlis Council said the United States and its allies need
urgently to reassess their strategy in Afghanistan, where NATO
forces are bracing for a major battle with insurgents as winter
snows melt.
The report was released hours ahead of talks in London between
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and British Prime Minister Tony
Blair, whose country is the second biggest provider of troops in
the country.
"The international community has reached a tipping point in
southern Afghanistan," said the report by the Senlis Council think
tank.
"The anticipated major spring offensive by the Taliban against
international forces requires an urgent reassessment of the
international community's counter-insurgency strategy," it
said.
The United States, which ousted the Taliban following the
September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, last year handed over
overall control of military operations there to NATO.
Britain initially spearheaded the International Security
Assistance Force's move into the volatile south of the country, but
has faced fiercer than expected Taliban opposition.
Concern is now mounting ahead of an expected Taliban offensive
as the winter ends, with observers warning that military defeat in
the south could threaten the political stability of the whole
country.
The Senlis Council said the West must shift its focus away from
the military struggle and towards economic and humanitarian support
for ordinary Afghans who it said had been "sorely neglected".
(China Daily via agencies February 15, 2007)
