New Afghan government facing multiple tests

Afghan and NATO forces launched a joint operation on Tuesday, Nov. 17, in an effort to ensure the oath-taking ceremony for re-elected President Hamid Karzai being held Thursday. The incumbent Afghan government is, nevertheless, subjected to threats not only from Taliban forces but also from the issue of growing corruption in the country.

A joint Afghan-NATO operation against Taliban on Tuesday has killed nearly 40 Taliban insurgents, the Afghan government reportedly said on Wednesday. Twenty-three Taliban-linked militants were killed in a joint operation by Afghan and Western troops in the province of Paktika late Tuesday, Hamidullah Zhwak, a provincial spokesman, said in a statement. NATO forces also carried out airstrike on Taliban stronghold along Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Sixteen Taliban insurgents were killed in a "clean-up" operation in southern Afghanistan. In addition, a large number of militants were captured.

The latest military "clean-up" operation in Afghanistan, noted analysts, indicates the attitude of the new Afghan government toward Taliban on the one hand and, on the other hand, to create a safe atmosphere for President Karzai's inaugural ceremony.

Taliban forces have launched most frenzied attacks against the Afghan government and NATO coalition troops with a record number of assaults this year, On Monday, they fired two rockets on a market in eastern Kabul, killing 12 Afghan civilians and wounding at least 38 others. The fierce fires have filled Afghan people with fear and anxiety. Apart from civilian casualties, 472 NATO soldiers have lost their lives since early this year, according to relevant figures.

Meanwhile, in the Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Afghanistan slipped to 179th place from 176th place, only next to Somalia in east Africa. "Examples of corruption range from public posts for sale and justice for a price to daily bribing for basic services," the organization said of Afghanistan. All this and the opium trade relating to corruption make CPI slip drastically in the country.

President Karzai's government is far from effective to uproot corruption and other crime, and this is nevertheless a unanimous view local media share. US ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry has previously expressed his reservation regarding corruption in Afghanistan. He praised the plan or move to set up an-corruption body and called for follow through. However, he said: "It requires action … Deeds are required."

In face of such grin security situation, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Tuesday that the alliance would, over the next few weeks, agree to increase the number of troops battling Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, while highlighting a transfer of responsibility for security to the country.


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