KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- The multinational forces battling the Taliban in Afghanistan expect a spring offensive, the commander of NATO, U.S., and Afghan forces said.
Army Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, commander of Combined Forces Command Afghanistan, spoke to reporters from the American Forces Press Service traveling with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on his first visit to the country since he assumed his new post last month.
"I would expect that the enemy will have its main effort against southern Afghanistan," said Eikenberry, who has served in Afghanistan for more than three years since 2002. "The enemy will try to conduct terror attacks against Kandahar and other urban centers."
The United States currently has between 23,000 and 24,000 service members in the country, the highest troop level that it has had in Afghanistan. Most American forces have started to report to NATO command in preparation for Eikenberry's command to end on Jan. 21.
Eikenberry told the American Forces Press Service that he expects the Taliban to try to restrict the mobility of NATO and pin NATO forces to various places along the Afghan-Pakistan border. He expects these tactics to be used to pave the way for the Taliban to re-exert its influence on parts of the country in the east and south.
The general said the Taliban isn't strong militarily and will try to duplicate that psychological victory they found last summer using similar tactics. "(They are trying) to undermine the will of the Afghan people, trying to separate the Afghan people from their government, trying to show that Afghan national security forces, NATO forces, U.S. forces are not up to the task," he said.
