Signs of Strain as Taliban Gird for Renewed Fighting

By artappraiser on Wed, 03/30/2011 - 7:23pm |

By Carlotta Gall, New York Times, March 30, 2011

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan Taliban are showing signs of increasing strain after a number of killings, arrests and internal disputes that have reached them even in their haven in Pakistan, Afghan security officials and Afghans with contacts in the Taliban say.

The killings, coming just as the insurgents are mobilizing for the new fighting season in Afghanistan, have unnerved many in the Taliban and have spread a climate of paranoia and distrust within the insurgent movement, the Afghans said.

Three powerful Taliban commanders were killed in February in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, well known to be the command center of the Taliban leadership, according to an Afghan businessman and a mujahedeen commander from the region with links to the Taliban. A fourth commander....

URL:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/world/asia/31taliban.html?hp