OneWorld.net (U.S.)

With nearly daily reports of clashes and bloodshed, no one disputes the fact that there has been a dramatic surge in violence in Afghanistan in recent months. But opinion is divided on whether this is the last gasp of the Taleban, or the start of a new aggressive phase of warfare.

For the remnants of the Taleban regime, which was ousted from power in late 2001 by United States troops and their Afghan allies, these attacks are proof that their fighters have successfully regrouped and are now capable of launching attacks anywhere in the country.

The government of President Hamed Karzai and the US-led Coalition see the renewed violence as a desperate attempt by the insurgents to achieve a short-term objective - disrupting the parliamentary and provincial elections scheduled for September 18.

In a telephone interview with IWPR, Taleban spokesman Mufti Abdul Latif Hakimi described some of the insurgent attacks carried out during the past two months.

He reeled off a list of what he said the guerrillas had achieved, including "the seizure of Mian Nishin district in Kandahar province and the capture of more than 30 men at the district [police] headquarters; the Taleban's control of some areas in Helmand province; and the face-to-face fighting by Taleban fighters against government and US troops in Urozgan and Kunar provinces".

Both sides agree that in late June, the militants took control of part of Mian Nishin, sparking an offensive by US and Afghan troops. They differ, however, on the casualty count from the fighting. Interior ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal said US and Afghan troops killed more than 100 Taleban fighters and arrested 16 in the clashes. News reports quoted the US military as saying five Americans were wounded.

Hakimi says the Islamist group lost just eight men in the fighting. He also claimed that they captured 31 policemen and put them on trial, adding that 23 of the officers were found not guilty and released but that eight others were convicted and “executed”.

Independent reports confirm that the bodies of eight police officers had been recovered. The men had been hanged. There has been no independent confirmation of casualty figures in the fighting.

On June 1, a bomb in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taleban, killed 20 people, including Kabul police chief Mohammad Akram, who were attending a memorial service for Maulavi Abdullah Fayaz, a pro-government cleric who had been assassinated a week earlier. The Taleban have denied responsibility for the bombing but many still consider the group to be behind the attack.

Both sides also agree that in late June, the Taleban shot down an American Chinook helicopter carrying commandos sent to rescue a contingent of US troops battling the Islamist fighters in Kunar province. Everyone aboard was killed. The Taleban said 35 people died in the crash, while the US military put the death toll at 16.

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