Afghan violence could worsen in 2008: US general

KABUL - Afghanistan could see higher levels of violence this year with many Taliban attacks in the east of the country originating from across the border in Pakistan, a top U.S. military commander said on Thursday.
Afghanistan saw the worst bloodshed last year since U.S.-led and Afghan forces toppled the Taliban in 2001, with around 6,000 people killed, about a third of them civilians, and some 140 Taliban suicide bombs across the country.
"This year won't be different," said Major General Jeffrey Schloesser, the new commander of international forces in eastern Afghanistan.
"I would predict that we will see some level of increasing incidences of violence just as there has been every year and they may well reach a higher level than they did in 2007," he told a news conference in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Most of the international troops in eastern Afghanistan are American and U.S. military commanders say they have brought down the level of Taliban violence in the rugged mountainous region that borders Pakistan.
Analysts say that if Taliban attacks have gone down in eastern Afghanistan in recent months it may be due to the Pakistani army's increased activity in fighting the Islamist militants who are active on both sides of the porous border.
But the new Pakistani government is now seeking peace agreements with militant groups on its side of the border and that may free up Taliban fighters to cross into Afghanistan and intensify their fight to topple the pro-Western Afghan government and eject foreign troops.
More civilian attacks
"When I look at the map ... my area of interest, the area that I'm concerned about is on the other side of the border as well as on the Regional Command East," Schloesser said.
"A large number of the enemy cross that border to attack the Afghan people."
Asked if most attacks in eastern Afghanistan originated in Pakistan, Schloesser said: "Potentially, yeah. I think, yes. There is a good amount of enemy that come across the border."
The Taliban would likely increase attacks on softer civilian targets, he said.
"I think that this is an enemy tactic that we're going to see more of. I think that they are afraid to attack ... coalition forces and so they are going for what is an easier target."
Taliban suicide attacks killed at least 200 civilians last year, undermining public faith in the ability of the government and international troops to bring security to a country that has seen more or less continual civil war for the last 30 years.
"It's clearly they are trying to stop, curtail and destroy an improving Afghan quality of life," Schloesser said. "I'm outraged about it and I think the international community ought to be outraged about it."
The deployment of 700 French troops to eastern Afghanistan would help to stabilise the situation there, he said.
"They are going to allow us to do some things in some areas where we have not had as high a concentration of coalition forces," Schloesser said.