"I do expect there will be some heavy fighting in the spring, both in the south and in the east" of Afghanistan, Ronald Neumann, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, said Jan. 22.

Fighting in Afghanistan typically intensifies in the spring, when warmer weather clears mountain passes of snow and makes it easier for soldiers and militants to move around.

But Neumann warned that the Taliban could be fighting more fiercely.

"I believe that the Taliban now feels that time is not on their side anymore, that there is an expansion of the army, that there is an expansion of NATO, and expansion of government authority," Neumann said during a visit to northern Parwan province.

Neumann also said that the 32,000-strong NATO-led force in Afghanistan is 20 percent short of the troop strength pledged by the members of the alliance.

The Japan Times Weekly: Jan. 27, 2007
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