U.N. Envoy Warns of More Taliban Attacks

By Colum Lynch, The Washington Post

Excerpts: UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 14 -- The top U.N. representative for Afghanistan warned Tuesday that Taliban insurgents in the country are likely to step up attacks in coming weeks, before the onset of winter, but he also praised the government's progress in curtailing opium cultivation and said the country is not doomed to failure.

Kai Eide, a Norwegian diplomat, told the U.N. Security Council that the Taliban has made significant strides in recent months, expanding its operations from southern and eastern Afghanistan to positions around the capital of Kabul. Insurgent attacks for July and August were up 40 percent over last year, making it the most violent two-month period since the United States toppled the Taliban regime in 2001.

"We must expect that this number of incidents will continue over the next weeks," Eide said, noting that the insurgents' target list had grown to include humanitarian aid workers. He said he anticipated that the insurgency would conduct military operations throughout Afghanistan's winter months -- a period in which Taliban fighters have reduced their activities in the past.


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