Afghan army fights for respect, equipment in south focus 07/29/2011

Afghan army fights for respect, equipment in south

focus

07/29/2011
COMPANY OUTPOST WARE — Afghan commander Maqim Sediqi has spent more than half of his life on battlefields but says that these days he is more preoccupied fighting for respect than firing his gun.

The army captain leads some 100 men battling alongside American forces to keep control of the critical Arghandab Valley in southern Kandahar province, where a surge of US troops last year has seen some successes against a trenchant insurgency.

But this year’s traditional summer fighting season comes as thousands of US troops prepare to leave Afghanistan, putting the fledgling force under pressure to show what they can do for themselves.

And while commanders cite gains in the outlying areas of the province, the birthplace of the Taliban, a string of political assassinations in Kandahar city a few kilometers (miles) south has brought fresh fears of an insurgent comeback..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110729com3.html