AFGHANSTAN SITUATION DETERIORATES

Afghanistan: Analysis of incidents from January thru March show there was no seasonal winter lull in activity. The level of combat and other security incidents continued to rise since November. Overall activity in March was the highest from mid-2006. Anti-government fighters were active in 231 of the 400 districts in Afghanistan. That is the same number as last November during the early winter offensive. The significance is that last winter Coalition forces were unable to reduce the level of activity or the number of districts under stress. The actual number of districts under Taliban and anti-government influence might be considerably higher than 231 because quiet districts in Taliban -dominated provinces, such as Paktika, usually mean the Taliban have unchallenged freedom of operation. In general, the data show the security situation in Afghanistan deteriorated during the winter.