KABUL, Afghanistan – Radical Islamist Taliban forces, shattered and ejected from Afghanistan by the U.S. military five years ago, are poised for a major offensive against U.S. troops and undermanned NATO forces, prompting American commanders in Afghanistan to issue an urgent appeal for a new U.S. Marine Corps battalion to reinforce the American positions.
Despite the presence of about 30,000 NATO troops, Taliban attacks on U.S., allied and Afghan forces more than tripled in the past year, according to U.S. military intelligence officials.
A U.S. Army infantry battalion fighting in a critical area of eastern Afghanistan is due to be withdrawn within weeks in order to deploy to Iraq. According to Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata and other senior U.S. commanders in Afghanistan, that will happen just as the Taliban is expected to unleash a major campaign to cut the vital road between Kabul and Kandahar.
Tata said the Taliban intend to seize Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second-largest city.
Gen. James Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps, said he favored dispatching a Marine battalion to Afghanistan, a decision that must be approved by new Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and by President Bush.
Indonesia: Alive after 9 days at sea
Fourteen people on board a ferry that sank at nearly midnight Dec. 29 were picked up by a passing cargo ship after spending nine days on a life raft, a rescue official said today. A 15th person died soon after being rescued by the ship late Sunday, said Ketut Purwa, head of the search and rescue agency on Bali island.
France: Chopper hits restaurant
A helicopter crashed Sunday into the garden terrace of a restaurant in southeastern France, between the towns of Salin-de-Giraud and Arles, killing three people on the ground and severely injuring a fourth, rescue workers said. The four occupants of the Alouette 2 aircraft were not injured, officials said.
Israel: Barak returns to politics
Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced Sunday he will seek the leadership of the Labor Party in the first step toward a possible bid for the country’s highest office. Barak spent nearly six years in political exile after he was crushed by Ariel Sharon in a 2001 election.
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