The Spring Fighting Season in Afghanistan

By Danielle Nelson

Spring in Afghanistan asserts itself as critical period for coalition and Afghan forces with the upcoming fighting season and improvement of relations with regional powers.  Violence conducted by insurgents continues to target civilians as well as military forces.  However, an assessment of war casualties indicates a decrease in the number of civilian deaths and injuries.  International forces prepare for the 2014 withdrawal by attempting to increase the support of regional powers in the stability of Afghanistan. 

Violence has picked up as the warmer months mark the beginning of the fighting season in Afghanistan.  Hostile forces are able to mobilize and travel across mountain passageways to attack international and Afghan forces with greater ease than during the harsh winter months.  The change in weather has led to an increase in attacks including a suicide bombing that resulted in the death of 21 people.  NATO released a statement claiming that the suicide bomber hit a military checkpoint at marketplace located in Khost, near Kabul.  Among the dead were three Americans and one Afghan interpreter while 32 civilians were injured in the attack.  In another incident, seven civilians riding in a tractor wagon were killed in the Logar province when the tracker hit a roadside bomb.  Four others were also injured from the explosion.  Recent military targets include an attack by insurgents on a NATO military base and police checkpoint that injured several U.S. troops as well as an attack by three insurgents disguised as Afghan police, in the Zhari district, that killed one American and injured nine others.

Despite the increase in violence, there has been a drop in Afghan civilian casualties compared to this point in previous years.  The assessment of the first four months of 2012 from the United Nations was released at the end of May.  It states that a combined estimation of civilian deaths and injuries has dropped 21 percent from the same assessment period last year.  The assessment breaks down the difference of casualties caused by coalition forces and the opposition forces.  The casualties caused by coalition forces dropped from 14 percent to nine percent while the casualties from the opposition did not change significantly.  The decrease in casualties may be attributed to the differences in weather conditions during the 2011 and 2012 assessment periods of the first four months.  A midyear assessment in July that covers the May and June fighting season months is expected to give more answers about the decrease.

To assess the increasing violence, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta met with military leaders on a visit to Afghanistan in the beginning of June.  His meeting with General John Allen outlined the ability of NATO coalition forces to take down the insurgencies as the coalition forces implement a military strategy that was introduced at the beginning of the year.  Panetta also met with the military leaders of India during the visit to encourage support for Afghanistan’s stability within the region.  The U.S. hopes that India can train Afghan troops and help to sustain the Afghan economy once the coalition forces withdraw from the country.  Panetta stressed the importance of a positive relationship between India and Pakistan as well because both regional powers are expected to have a significant influence in Afghanistan following the 2014 withdrawal.