Afghan province of Nuristan falls to Taliban

By Ghulam Ghaus
Oct 27, 2009
KABUL:The Taliban have taken control of Afghanistan's Nuristan province following the withdrawal of Western forces from key bases, as ordered by the American commander, General Stanley McChrystal.

president Obama has also said that more troops to afghanistan will not be sent in a hurry.

The statement of Obama indicates that US has lost grip of Afghanistan.

The Taliban invasion of Nuristan province took place after eight American troops were killed in two separate bomb attacks Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, making October the deadliest month of the war for U.S. forces since the 2001 invasion to oust the Taliban.

In one of the insurgent assaults, seven Americans were killed while patrolling in armored vehicles, U.S. forces spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Vician said. He said an Afghan civilian died in the same attack. The eighth Americans were killed in a separate bombing elsewhere in the south, also while patrolling in a military vehicle, he said.

The military issued a statement saying the deaths occurred during "multiple, complex" bomb strikes. It said several troops were wounded and evacuated to a nearby medical facility, but gave no other details.

Capt. Adam Weece, a spokesman for American forces in the south, said both attacks occurred in Kandahar province. In Washington, a U.S. defense official said at least one was followed by an intense firefight with insurgents who attacked after an initial bomb went off. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

The deaths bring to 55 the total number of American troops killed in October in Afghanistan. The previous high occurred in August, when 51 U.S. soldiers died and the troubled nation held the first round of its presidential election amid a wave of Taliban insurgent attacks.

The deadliest month of the Iraq conflict for U.S. forces was November 2004, when 137 Americans were killed during the assault to clear insurgents from the city of Fallujah.


The loss of life followed one of the worst days of the war for U.S. forces in Afghanistan since they launched air strikes in 2001 to oust the Taliban from power.

Due to heavy death toll of US soldiers in Afghanistan in the month of October the US forces are on the back foot & the Taliban have taken an advantage of that & have invaded the province of Nuristan. the US is also having a hesitation in sending more troops to Afghanistan.

Mathew Hoh, the first US official known to have resigned in protest over the eight-year war, The Washington Post said Tuesday.

Matthew Hoh, 36, was the senior State Department official in
Afghanistan's Zabul province, a hotbed for Taliban militants, until he resigned last month.

The resignation, the said Washington Post, "sent ripples all the way to the White House," and government officials scrambled to convince Hoh to stay, concerned that he could become a prominent critic of the fledgling administration's Afghanistan policy.


Hoh noted that next year "the United States' occupation will equal in length the Soviet Union's own physical involvement in Afghanistan".

The heavy death toll of the US soldiers in the month of October, the resignation of Mathew Hoh, the fallling of Nuristan province into the hands of Taliban and the delay of the American government to send more troops to Afghanistan are all horrible indications for the US.