# 'Higher levels of fighting' coming in Afghanistan



## GAP (31 Dec 2006)

AP Interview: 'Higher levels of fighting' coming in Afghanistan, top US general says
The Associated PressPublished: December 30, 2006
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CAMP SHARONA, Afghanistan: The outgoing U.S. commander in Afghanistan said that he expects higher levels of fighting in the coming year, and that Taliban militants will try to briefly overrun district centers to unhinge Afghans' morale.

Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry also said the recent killing of a high-level Taliban commander shows that fugitives like Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar will one day slip up, and that the U.S. will strike.

Eikenberry, expected to be out of Afghanistan in late January, said he expects militants early in 2007 to attack border security posts, to extend their use of suicide bombs and to launch assault on district centers in groups of 25 to 100 fighters.

But Eikenberry said none of the Taliban's efforts would provide "a significant military challenge" for U.S., NATO and Afghan forces, which he said have improved greatly in the past year.

"The capability exists for that array of allied and Afghan forces to dominate militarily wherever they move to," he said.

Eikenberry said that as he looks ahead to the first half of the coming year, "I anticipate higher levels of fighting."

When asked if that was in comparison to 2006, he said: "We should not be surprised by levels of fighting in parts of southern Afghanistan that rivaled what we saw last year."

Violence rose sharply in Afghanistan in 2006, killing an estimated 4,000 people, making it the deadliest year since the U.S.-led coalition swept the Taliban from power in 2001.

Militants launched a record 117 suicide attacks this year, about a six-fold increase over 2005, killing 206 Afghan civilians, 54 Afghan security personnel and 18 soldiers from NATO's International Security Assistance Force, said NATO spokesman Maj. Dominic Whyte.

The number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan dropped slightly, from 93 in 2005 to 87 in 2006. But the number of casualties suffered by other NATO countries rose sharply.

Eikenberry on Friday traveled to three U.S. bases in eastern Afghanistan's rugged mountains to talk with commanders and shake hands with soldiers who must fend off attacks by Taliban militants crossing the border from Pakistan.
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