With US and NATO forces increasingly focused on airstrikes and letting the Afghan military do the ground fighting, the Afghan Taliban doesn’t get the coverage in Western media it used to. That doesn’t mean the group is any less active, however.
Taliban forces were active across the country today, with a major attack on a prosecutors office in Kunduz killing 10 people, including seven prosecutors, and wounding 10 others. The attack was retaliation for recent death penalties given to Taliban prisoners.
Meanwhile, Taliban forces attacked police in the northeastern Badakhshan Province, kidnapping at least 17 and killing four others in an attack on the Wardoj District.
They’re also looking to expand their territory, with an offensive in the Uruzgan Province’s Gizab District. Gizab is noteworthy because instead of being ousted by NATO, the locals rose up and chased the Taliban out four years ago. Now, the Taliban are back in force, and have some 80% of the district under their direct control.
The Taliban’s offensives usually start petering out about this time of the year, as there is virtually no infrastructure in the country and both sides tend to just shore up defenses during winter. Whatever the Taliban takes now, they’re likely to keep until spring.