Insurgent activity rising in Afghanistan

[RedEarth]

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Insurgent activity in Afghanistan has risen fourfold this year, and militants now launch more than 600 attacks a month, a rising wave of violence that has resulted in 3,700 deaths in 2006, a bleak new report found.

Afghanistan saw about 130 insurgent attacks a month last year, said the report by the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board, which consists of representatives from Afghanistan and the international community, including the United Nations.

The new report said insurgents were launching more than 600 attacks a month as of the end of September, up from 300 a month at the end of March this year. The violence has killed more than 3,700 people this year, it said.

Officials said on Sunday that in the volatile border area near Pakistan, more than 20 Taliban militants -- and possibly as many as 60 -- were killed during several days of clashes.

"Confronting increased insurgent activity has diverted much of the government's attention and significant resources," the report said.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/11/12/afghan.violence.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

[xchrom]

1. in a country as marginal as afghanistan --

imagine what ''significant resources'' means.