Recent surge in Violence

In the past few weeks there has been a sudden surge of violence in Afghanistan. The death toll from the recent attacks in Afghanistan has reached over 100. On Monday, the 21st, 32 Afghan civilians were killed in a suicide bomb attack on a government office in Kunduz. The civilians were waiting in line outside the office to recieve new paperwork and/or identity cards, said Mohammad Ayob Haqyar head of the Kuduz district. In July withdrawl of selected NATO and US troops is scheduled to begin. Speculators have indicated the possible surge in the attacks is due to the projected withdrawl. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack. In the last few weeks over three large scale attacks have occured. The Saturday before this most recent bombing a suicide bomber detonated his bomb in the lobby of a bank where many police officers were chasing their paychecks. The attacks seem to target civilians and governement officials. Because of the upcoming withdrawl and the prosepct that in just under three years Afghanistan's newly created army and police force will have complete control of the country, the attacks seem to be increasing.

I think that this recent surge in violence is extremely interesting due to the recent revolutions in so many of the Middle Eastern countries. Because Afghanistan currently has 140,000 international troops stationed in it revolts similar to the ones in Libya and Egypt are highly unlikely. The coinsidence is however interesting. Hopefully the Taliban is not aiming to reinsert control over the struggling nation.