Truck halt on Pakistan pass may hurt U.S.

U.S. troops battling escalating insurgency
U.S.-led troops are battling an escalating insurgency in Afghanistan that has pushed violence to its highest levels since the 2001 invasion that ousted the Taliban regime and raised the specter of American failure in a key theater in the war on terror.

The U.S. military reported Sunday that 38 insurgents were killed during a clash with coalition troops in southern Helmand province.

Also Saturday, in eastern Paktia province's Zurmat district, coalition troops killed five al-Qaida-associated insurgents and nabbed eight, including a militant leader accused of helping the Taliban move and train Arab and other foreign fighters into Afghanistan, a statement said. The militant was not identified.

In eastern Khost province Saturday, coalition and Afghan troops detained a militant leader of the network of Afghan insurgent leader Jalaluddin Haqqani.

The U.S. once supported Jalaluddin Haqqani as a "freedom fighter" when he fought against the former Soviet Union's 1980s occupation of Afghanistan. He and his son Sirajuddin are now considered major threats to U.S. forces.

Security for Taliban chief
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, meanwhile, offered Sunday to provide security for the Taliban's reclusive leader, Mullah Omar, if he agrees to enter peace talks, and suggested that if the U.S. and other Western nations disagreed they could leave the country or oust him.

"If I say I want protection for Mullah Omar, the international community has two choices, remove me or leave if they disagree," Karzai said.

Omar is believed to be in hiding but still running the insurgency.

Karzai has long supported drawing the Islamist militia into the political mainstream on the condition that they accept the country's constitution.

Omar has not directly responded to these calls, but spokesmen associated with the Taliban have previously said U.S. and other foreign troops must withdraw before any talks. Karzai dismissed that, saying foreign troops are necessary for Afghanistan's security.

Also Sunday, suicide car bombers struck a NATO convoy in the northern Baghlan province and a U.S. convoy in western Herat province, officials said. One civilian died in the northern attack.

The British military said one of its soldiers was killed when his vehicle was hit by an explosion in the southern Helmand Province on Saturday. NATO reported one of its soldiers was killed in a roadside bombing, but it was unclear if the two attacks were related.

Attacks in Afghanistan are up 30 percent from 2007, military officials say. More than 5,400 people — most of them militants — have died in insurgency-related violence this year, according to a tally of official figures provided to the AP.

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