As Foreign Forces Leave Afghanistan The Fighting Is Worsening

Afghan security force gather around bodies of Taliban insurgents after Taliban fighters stormed a government building in Jalalabad province, May 12, 2014. REUTERS/ Parwiz

Afghan Fighting Worsens As Foreign Troops Withdraw: Report -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Taliban militants launched a declared summer offensive across Afghanistan on Monday and a prominent think-tank forecast a bloody future as foreign combat forces prepare to leave.

In a report, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said the number of Islamist insurgent attacks had increased by 15-20 percent in 2013 from a year earlier, and a similar trend continued into the first half of 2014.

"The violence remains ferocious because there are so many grudges and grievances left over from a dozen years of war here," said Graeme Smith, the ICG's senior analyst in Kabul.

The Taliban, driven from power by U.S.-led forces in 2001, claimed responsibility for a series of attacks across the country on Monday at the start of their summer offensive.

Read more ....

My Comment: For the Afghan soldiers who are now facing the brunt of these attacks .... it is back to the basics .... Back to basics for Afghan soldiers as Nato allies exit -- The Nation