US-led coalition: Insurgent attacks trending down

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US-led coalition: Insurgent attacks trending down

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International forces in Afghanistan claim show violence trending downward in their favour.

30 September,2011 05:41 am

International forces in Afghanistan released new data Thursday that they claim show violence trending downward in their favour, contradicting UN statistics that the monthly average number of clashes and other attacks is nearly 40 percent more than last year.NATO said it has made progress by routing the Taliban from their strongholds in the south. But the Taliban have hit back with several high-profile attacks in the capital and assassinations of government officials and senior Afghan leaders.The US-led coalition reported that insurgent attacks in the first eight months of the year were down 2 percent and that the Taliban are relying more on roadside bombs to fight the war instead of shooting at better-armed international troops.Actual enemy-initiated attacks are down and that is what we are observing as an indicator that actually violence trends are going down in our favor, said Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, a spokesman for the coalition.The coalition said direct fire from insurgents dropped 30 percent in recent months. However, NATO said that roadside bomb explosions rose 5 percent during the time period.A day earlier, the UN said in its quarterly report on Afghanistan that, as of the end of August, the average monthly number of incidents stood at 2,108, up 39 percent over the same period a year earlier. The figures include insurgent attacks as well as assaults by NATO and Afghan forces on Taliban figures and positions.The UN envoy to Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, said there was no conflict between the different assessments.He told reporters after a UN Security Council meeting Thursday that the situation in Afghanistan had improved in a purely military way, but at the same time there has been an increase in civilian casualties.NATO said in its briefing Thursday that coalition airstrikes killed 67 civilians from January through August, up 18 percent from the 57 in the same period last year. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has spoken out against such coalition airstrikes.