The story provides the details that matter. Of the 82, 75 were Taliban thugs. At least six civilians were also killed in battles between Taliban and Afghan and coalition forces. That suggests that the Taliban continues to get hammered wherever they attempt to attack, a strategy that is resulting in lots of dead Taliban, but headlines suggest that the violence is far more widespread or conflates the number of civilians killed with those of the enemy - designed to make the situation appear far more unstable or worse than it is.
Heavy battles punctuated by airstrikes killed 75 suspected Taliban and at least six civilians in Afghanistan, while a U.S. official on Friday accused Iran of supplying roadside bomb components to militants to get American soldiers "out of the region."Iran is trying to extend its reach and influence well beyond its borders, and that includes Afghanistan and Iraq. Iran continues to provide technical assistance to enemies of the US, including EFPs and other bomb components, which continues to kill and injure US soldiers operating in Iraq and Afghanistan. Iran remains a menance that the US will have to contend with for the foreseeable future.
Adm. William Fallon said Iran is providing development assistance in western Afghanistan, which he labeled helpful. But he said Iran's Revolutionary Guard is also supplying roadside bomb parts for the type of sophisticated and deadly bombs found in Iraq known as "explosively formed penetrators" — accusations the U.S. has made repeatedly in Iraq as well.
"The Iranians are clearly supplying some amount of lethal aid," Fallon told The Associated Press. "There is no doubt .... that agents from Iran are involved in aiding the insurgency."
Iran has denied that it is supplying arms to fighters in Afghanistan.
HT: Occasional Reader at LGF
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