Posted on 02/16/2007 3:22:18 AM PST by Aussie Dasher
THE Taliban have deployed 10,000 fighters for a spring offensive of "bloody attacks" against foreign troops in Afghanistan, a rebel commander said today.
More than 4000 people, a quarter of them civilians, were killed in fighting last year, the most violent year since the Taliban were ousted in 2001.
NATO commanders and analysts warn this year could be just as bad or worse.
As the harsh winter snows melt, the insurgents have resumed their attacks, mostly in the south, where they have captured a major town and have threatened a key hydroelectric dam.
Mullah Abdul Rahim, the Taliban's operational commander for southern Helmand province – the opium centre of the world's major producer – said militants would step up attacks in spring.
"As the weather becomes warm and leaves turn green, we will unleash bloody attacks on the US-led foreign troops," Rahim said by satellite phone from a secret location.
"Our war preparations, especially in southern Afghanistan and in Helmand province, are complete and for this our 10,000 fighters are ready to take up arms the moment they are ordered."
After attempts at conventional pitched battles failed last year, the Taliban are expected to return to more conventional guerrilla tactics against government forces and the roughly 45,000 foreign soldiers in the country.
A key tactic is expected to be suicide bombings, which rose dramatically last year, killing more than 200 people, but which still remain much rarer than in Iraq.
The Taliban say they have 2000 suicide bombers ready and another 3000 in training.
Rahim said the focus of attacks will be southern areas, where the Taliban was born.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
Time to take this fight into Pakistan, like the recent "terrorist" bombing in iran.
10,000 targets. Bring it in closer tali-whackers, so we can get everyone in the viewfinder.
Lined up or bunched up.
according to the CIA the population of Afcrapistan is Population: 31,056,997 (July 2006 est.).If it is 10,000 that is 3% of the population. Which means were not killing them fast enough.
Let's hope their suicide brigade gets lots and lots of live round practice before thay get sent to play with the neighbors.
Not to be a stickler here, but your math is off by about $990,000...;^)
I'm sure we will have plenty of ammo
***The Taliban say they have 2000 suicide bombers ready and another 3000 in training.***
3000 in training???
How long does that take? Ten minutes?
LOL!!! Love to see a training session!
long past that time
but can they find ten thousand children to use as shields?
"Witness the mighty wrath of our 1,000 ... er... 10,000 warriors, who will unleash their fury upon you as soon as it warms up a bit and this cold snap gives way to something more like t-shirt weather. Then watch out"
Brings a new urgency to the term training accident, don't you think?
"Ready on the right, ready on the left! BOOM!! OK, we have an opening on lanes 2, 5, and 9."
You are right about the drop rate for BUDS, in three years as a division officer on USS Ranger none of the sailors I knew who left with high hopes, failed to ring the bell.
Now, having been here in Afghanistan since 2003, I can tell you that the standard equation for any Afghan reported figures is to divide by four.
That would include this a$$hat's claim of 10,000. Maybe 2,500, maybe not. We always try to err on the side of generosity to our Afghan allies. Since most of them can't count anyway, it is like the scene in Jeremiah Johnson when Jeremiah was told by the grizzly hunting old mountain man, "damn fool, elk don't know how many feet a horse has".
Taliban set to 'deploy 10,000 fighters'
Shouldn’t that read, “Taliban to deploy 10,000 targets?
Hopefully this time we will simply kill all 10,000 Taliban--ALONG WITH THEIR FAMILIES. If that is 70,000 people then so be it. The biggest mistake we have made in the WOT is our squeamishness about killing civilians. The wives and children on the enemy are fair game, as they were in WWII.
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