I guess the Taliban must not have gotten the message about them being, you know, defeated, routed, evicted, gone, kaput, game over:
Scores of Taliban militants chased police out of two southern Helmand districts near the border with Pakistan. Afghanistan's deputy interior minister accused two Pakistani Islamic groups of taking part in the militant operation.
"The Taliban extremists have taken control of the areas of Garmser and Naway-i-Barakzayi. However, coalition forces do have them under observation," military spokesman Col. Tom Collins told reporters in Kabul. "Decisive operations will begin soon," he added, without saying when...
Afghan officials have said scores of Taliban fighters, many crossing into Afghanistan from neighboring Pakistan, fought Garmser's small contingent of policemen -- holed up in a concrete compound -- for 16 days before the police withdrew.
While Taliban militants have long operated freely in former southern stronghold provinces, their capture of two towns highlights the weakness of Afghanistan's police forces in remote areas, and the challenge ahead faced by international forces to restore order in the country.
"The Taliban have reconstituted and dispersed, but this is certainly not about the Taliban being strong. The reality is that the government has not yet extended to the far-reaching areas of the country," Collins said.
Deputy Interior Minister Abdul Malik Sidiqi accused Pakistan-based Islamic groups Lashkar-e-Tayyaba -- an outlawed militant organization, and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam -- a pro-Taliban political party, of taking over Garmser.
"They burned the Afghan flag and raised the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam flag in the (Garmser) district," Sidiqi told reporters. "The government of Afghanistan has technically and temporarily left Garmser. We did so to prevent casualties to civilian people."
Burned the flag? Well, it was an Afghan flag, but still...you'd think the entire GOP Senate Caucus would be ready to mobilize and personally restore the honor and dignity of the Grand Old, um, Afghanistan Flag.
Wonder what's keeping them...it's not like they've actually been in session all that much.
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