Dangerous Escalation In Afghanistan - Eight Americans & Six Canadians Killed In A Bloody Day For The Coalition Forces

By Sikander Hayat


It has been reported that in the Khost province of Afghanistan a suicide bomber has killed 8 CIA officers. The bomber was an Afghan Army officer and was well known to his victims.
In a separate incident in Kandahar, four soldiers and a journalist were killed Wednesday by a powerful improvised explosive device in the worst loss of Canadian life in Afghanistan in two-and-a-half years.
The five deaths occurred as the soldiers in armoured
vehicles patrolled in what was considered to be a safe part of southern Kandahar city. The military did not immediately release any names because of problems notifying family.
However, journalists on the base identified the reporter killed as Michelle Lang, 34, a reporter with the Calgary Herald. She was in the back of an armoured vehicle at the time.

In one day coalition forces have lost 13 personnel signalling an increase in Taliban increasing their activity in the southern and eastern provinces of Afghanistan.
This is also significant because of the fact that Obama has already given timeline for an eventual withdrawal from Afghanistan and these incidents are seen as a warning from Taliban to anyone helping the coalition forces.
Both these incidents happened in the Pakhtun heartland adjacent to the Pakistan border worrying many Pakistanis that further violence is coming their way as well. In the days when Pakistan is reeling because of the constant suicide bombings, anything escalation in Afghanistan is seen as a sign of things to come in Pakistan. Although, Pakistani Taliban act independently of the Afghan Taliban, they still take their inspiration from Afghanistan.