Deadly Attacks Surge as U.S. Troops Prepare to Leave Afghanistan
By Eltaf Najafizada
April 29, 2021, 11:59 PM EDT
Militant attacks rose 37% in the March quarter in Afghanistan
As many as 17 million Afghans are also facing food shortages
Violence surged in war-torn Afghanistan in the first quarter of the year as U.S. forces prepared to leave the country after two decades.
Attacks by the Taliban and other militant groups surged 37% in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to a report that cited both U.S. forces and the United Nations. As many as 643 people were killed and 1,395 injured, the U.S. forces reported, while the UN recorded 572 deaths, according to a report by Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, a Pentagon watchdog.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw troops by Sept. 11 will remove military support to Afghanistan’s government and strengthen Taliban militants just as the nation’s President Ashraf Ghani struggles with a food security crisis that’s affected nearly 17 million people, or about half of its population.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-30/attacks-surge-as-u-s-troops-prepare-to-depart-from-afghanistan