KABUL, Afghanistan - The monthly average of armed clashes, roadside bombings and other violence in Afghanistan is running 39 percent ahead of last year's figure, the U.N. reported Wednesday, with more complex suicide operations involving multiple bombers and gunmen.
The statistics show the intensity of the nearly decade-old war is growing, not abating, as the U.S. and other nations start to withdraw forces with an eye toward pulling all combat troops out by the end of 2014.
The Taliban's resilience raises questions about whether the Afghan government and its Western allies have a solid grip on security - and whether the Afghan forces can ever secure the nation by themselves.
NATO says it has made progress in taming the Taliban insurgency by routing its 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.
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In its quarterly report on Afghanistan, the U.N. said that at 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.
"Armed clashes and improvised explosive devices continued to constitute the majority of incidents," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his report. "The south and southeast of the country ... accounted for approximately two-thirds of the total security incidents."
The U.S.-led coalition disputes the U.N. figures and planned to hold a news conference today to release its own statistics.
Most of the 33,000 additional U.S. troops that President Obama sent to Afghanistan were deployed in Kandahar. The extra U.S. and other NATO forces succeeded in routing insurgents from their stronghold and now are trying to hold those areas in the south.
The militants, however, have opened new fronts in the north and west and have stepped up attacks in the east, including inside the capital, Kabul.
On Wednesday, three international service members were killed in a roadside bombing in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S.-led coalition said.
Also Wednesday, gunmen killed eight Afghan policemen in an ambush at a checkpoint near Lashkar Gah in the south. The city is one of seven areas where Afghan security forces are taking over from U.S.-led coalition forces.
US Toll in Afghanistan
1,676
Deaths
14,239
Wounded
Source: Department of Defense
