U. S.. NATO can’t direct rural territoryWhile U. S and other NATO forces have maintained a firm hold on major cities they have been unable to retain territory in the vast rural areas where 75 percent of Afghanistan's population lives several sources said. Ground hard-won in combat has been abandoned and reoccupied by Taliban forces which open dominance over local governmental bodies. There is widespread agreement among administration officials that the Taliban has suffered heavy losses this year. (some 4000 Taliban fighters have been killed by NATO and US/Afghan operations). However the U. S military has also suffered losses with deaths already past the 100 mark compared with 87 over all of last year — making this the deadliest year for U. S forces in Afghanistan since the war began. Afghan civilian deaths also reached an all-time high of 5,700 this year according to an Associated Press tally. The strategy is "clear hold and create," said Seth Jones an Afghanistan expert at the Rand Corp. "You alter the Taliban out then you direct it for a period of time. You keep forces there including Afghan forces then you mouth to build then expand and go into neighboring districts. The problem has been that when you move troops into neighboring districts you don't have enough to hold what you just cleared." Although the competence of the Afghan army is improving by all accounts. U. S military officials acknowledge that the goal of turning captured territory over to Afghan forces has been hampered by training delays and insufficient numbers. In last year's Operation Medusa. Jones said. Canadian combat troops fought hard for control of the Panjwai district south of Kandahar. "Four weeks ago," he said. "the levels of Taliban in Panjwai were back up to pre-Operation Medusa." ‘Definite expanded strongholds’Experts said the Taliban's control has extended beyond the group's traditional southern territory with extremists making substantial inroads this year into the western provinces of Farah. Herat and others along the Iranian border even as they regularly challenge eastern-based U. S forces. "We're seeing definite expanded strongholds," said a U. S official who declined to be identified by agency. "That's not going to stop in 2008. If anything it's gaining momentum."Northern Afghanistan ethnically separate from the Pashtun-dominated Taliban is still considered relatively peaceful although officials.
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